Dragon-Born
by Dragonwriterofthenight
Summary: Hiccup was born with the soul of a dragon. Cloudjumper could see this, even when he was only a babe. So she took him to be raised with dragons, leaving a grieving Stoick and Valka behind.
1. Chapter 1

**I kinda vowed not to start any new stories for a while, but I already have six and a half chapters done for this and I really want feedback on it. So here ya Peeps go! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1

Dragons filled the night sky, their unrelenting screeches and fire causing destruction all around. Vikings fought back with just as much passion, screaming their war cries as they hacked at the beasts. In the midst of it all, Valka turned in circles, horrified by what she saw. This was not right.

The wife of the chief ducked as a Nadder flamed overhead. She looked over her shoulder and spotted a Viking about to lop off the head off a Monsterous Nightmare.

"No!" she shouted as she held back the axe, "You're only making it worse!" The Nightmare flew off and Valka received a glare from the Viking. He pushed her away and continued to fight.

Valka was in despair. Didn't they see that this fight with the dragons was pointless? All they achieved was more and more bloodshed.

Valka was considering doing something slightly crazy to help when she saw something that turned her blood to ice. On the roof of her house, a large dragon she had never seen before dug it's way inside...inside Hiccup's room.

"Hiccup! Valka called in fear before taking off for the house. She saw her husband fighting off a Gronkle and called, "Stoick!" The chief looked to her and she pointed to the dragon digging its way into the house. Stoick pushed back the dragon and ran with her as fast as he could. No dragon was going to kill his son.

They burst through the doors and raced up the stairs. At the top, they saw the strange dragon holding a claw over Hiccup in his crib. The babe reached up and grabbed at it, completely oblivious to the danger he was in.

Stoick was ready to charge in at once, but Valka stopped him. "If we startle it, it might kill Hiccup!" she whispered.

Stoick looked back fearfully at his son but nodded. "Ok. You go around. I'll come in front." They snuck in a softly as possible, but they were no match for a dragon's senses. It turned around sharply, causing its claw to slip and cut Hiccup on his chin. He began to cry and the dragon jumped back through the hole it came from.

The moment the dragon was gone, Valka ran forward and grabbed her son. "Oh, Hiccup," she whispered, crying into his thick locks.

Stoick wrapped his arms around her and said, "It's ok. Hiccup is ok." But that particular dragon had taken an interest in Hiccup and she would be back.

* * *

**6 1/2 months later. Hiccup is a little over one year old.**

Once more, the dragons came. They came at least once a week now, and yet, didn't seem to destroy as much.

Valka was trying to get Hiccup back to the house. He cried in her arms, scared and unsure at what was happening around him.

Just before she reached the porch, the same dragon -the one who gave Hiccup his scar- landed in front of them. Valka fell to the ground, dropping Hiccup in the process. "Run!" she shouted to him. Hiccup, scared at the intensity of his mother's voice, obeyed.

His little toddler legs began to beat as fast as they could, but it was almost comical to watch. He tripped over a rock and had trouble getting back up. Valka tried to get up as well, but before she could, the dragon jumped over her and landed in front of Hiccup. It brought its head down to the small boy and sniffed him curiously, but Valka thought it was threatening. She jumped up and screamed, "You get away from him!" She ran forward but the beast's tail came around and pushed her back, pinning her against the ground. "Hiccup!" Valka looked around until she saw the chief and called, "Stoick!" He turned and ran for her immediately. "Get Hiccup!" she yelled.

The chief turned his head to see the great dragon from before still sniffing a frozen Hiccup. "Get away from my son!" he bellowed and ran as fast as he could. The dragon looked up and jumped a little in the air. It reached down with a claw and snagged the crying Hiccup off the ground and flew away. "Hiccup!" Stoick called a final time before dropping to his knees in despair. Beside him, his wife was curled up in the grass and sobbed with all her heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hiccup cried and cried until he had no tears left. When he had finally exhausted himelf, he looked up lazily at the dragon who held him. He gave a small hiccup before nestling into her claws. Crying for a solid hour was very tiring. And Hiccup felt so warm and -despite the situation- safe. Very soon, he was sound asleep in the claws of his kidnapper.

* * *

Cloudjumper reached the nest and flew in through the ice tunnels. She took extra care to cover the youngling she had as much as possible so that he kept warm. She would not have him freezing on her watch.

Cloudjumper flew in to the massive structure that the king had built with his ice and returned to her own, personal nest. There, she laid the babe down gently on a bed of leaves and landed next to him. The youngling opened his eyes and yawned, taking in his surroundings.

"That's right," Cloudjumper cooed, "This is your new home. With the dragons, where you belong. Now...what shall I call you?" She reached out with her claw and helped him stand up. He looked at her curiously with those magnificent green eyes. "That's it," Cloudjumper thought, "Your eyes are as green as the forest from which I took you. I shall call you Greenleaf. Now let us go, so that you may meet the King."

Cloudjumper carefully took the newly named Greenleaf into one of her claws and flew him down to a ledge overlooking the resting Bewilderbeast. She set him down before bowing and saying, "My King."

The great beast rose to look at Cloudjumper and her new youngling. "What have your brought?" he asked, "A human child?"

"A child who has been born with the soul of a dragon," Cloudjumper replied, "I can feel it within him. He does not belong in that village where they kill and murder."

The Bewilderbeast moved forward and Cloudjumper nudged Greenleaf closer. He puffed a small breath at the child, coating him thoroughly in frost. Greenleaf shivered but giggled as he tried to crawl forward and touch the King. Cloudjumper pulled him back with her claw to keep him from falling.

"What is his name?" the King asked.

"Greenleaf."

"Fitting," he observed, "Very well. I see what you mean in that he has been dragon-born. You will raise him?"

"Yes," Cloudjumper said immediately.

"Good," he said as he moved back into his position from before.

Cloudjumper smiled, content, as she scooped Greenleaf back up and took him to her nest. She settled him down and he was soon alseep again, the days events having thoroughly tired him out.

Cloudjumper sighed. "Rest little one. I know that you will not grow up the same as the other dragons, but I promise I will always protect you."

She layed down next to him and carefully pulled him into her claw, where he was safe and warm. She smiled and cooed at him before also closing her eyes to rest off her long flight. Right before she fell asleep, she softly heard Greenleaf say one of the few words he knew. "Mommy." Cloudjumper did not know what the human word meant, but it made her happy all the same.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A grieving mother is a dangerous thing. Women love their parents, and their siblings, and their husbands, and would feel horrible pain if they lost them. But if a woman lost a child...that is worse than any kind of pain or torture. And Valka felt it hard. She rarely ate, or slept, or even leave the house. She would simply sit in her chair by the fire and stare into the flames with blank eyes.

This took effect on Stoick as well. He felt like he had lost both his son and his wife. And when a husband lost a beloved wife...

No one questioned Stoick when he ordered another hunt for the dragons' nest. Volunteers were easy to find for this mission. Among them were Gobber of course, Alrik Hofferson, and Spitelout, Stoick's brother. No dragon took his nephew and got away with it.

Before Stoick left for the journey, he kneeled by his wife and took her limp hand. "I will find him," he said, "I swear to you I will find him. Alive and well." Valka didn't respond. Stoick sighed and got up. He just hoped he could keep true on that promise. On the way down to the docks, he asked Gothi to keep an eye on Valka and make sure she ate and got water.

Stoick looked up at the wall of mist that stood as a barrier between him and the dragons' nest. Between him and his son. He didn't even know that Hiccup was at a much different nest than the one he was after.

Nevertheless, he called the order to take them in. Determination and pain showed on his face as they went in. He was going to find his son if it killed him.

* * *

Many miles away, on an island made of ice, young Greenleaf giggled as his new Nadder friend mussed his hair. This Nadder was also about a year old -surprisingly, most dragons grew at the same rate as humans- and had brilliant, purple scales, like amethyst. Her name was Brightscales, and named rightly so. No dragon had brighter scales than she.

Brightscales was much smaller than most Nadders her age, which made her a good playmate for Greenleaf. Other dragons might accidentally crush him. He had been mostly playing with Terrible Terrors until he met Brightscales.

Greenleaf giggle again and climbed up onto Brightscales' back. He wrapped his arms as far around her as they would go and sqeezed. "Gotyu!" he said in dragonese.

"Gri," Cloudjumper called, "Come get lunch."

Greenleaf climbed down from Brightscales and waved saying, "Bya!"

"Byby Gri!" Brightscales returned. She hopped away back to her own mother, trying to flap her wings as she did so.

Greenleaf returned to his mother and sat down in front of her. Feeding Greenleaf was a bit more difficult than most dragons. Cloudjumper had to flame the fish she got a bit first, but not too much to burn it. Then she would have to wait for it to cool enough for Gri to eat. But he waited patiently every time. Every now and then, Cloudjumper would find him fruit instead and he would eat that. But for the most part, Gri ate fish, like any other dragon.

As Greenleaf grew, he eventually learned that he was human. It was hard to not notice. He had no wings, nor four legs, and he couldn't breath fire. At first, Gri missed out on a lot. But he was determined, and very smart. At 5, he made a device to shoot fire for him, which he called his Firebreather. Over the years, he modified it and made it better. At 7, when the other dragons learned to fly, Gri at first couldn't participate in their games of catch. But he soon learned how to hop from dragon to dragon, hardly disturbing them in the process. When he was 'it,' he would find his target and time his fall perfectly so that he never actually landed on the dragon he tagged. But that wasn't it.

It took several days of begging both Gri's and Brightscales' mothers, but they eventually got permission to explore outside the nest. Greenleaf rode on Brightscales' back and watched for any kind of human salvage that he could use in his idea.

"There!" Gri called, "Brit, land there!"

She did, and Gri hopped off, eager to look into the crashed ship. No signs of life were aboard, but plenty was left behind. Gri tore down the sails, found several tools, and even a small knife. Satisfied, he climbed back up on Brightscales. She took to the air and they were soon back at the nest.

It took several days for Gri to complete his work. Brit often came over while he worked and asked if she could be of any help. She mostly got a no every time, but every now and then Gri would find something for her to do.

"It's done!" Greenleaf said triumphantly one day.

Brit sniffed it and looked at it curiously. "How does it work?"

Greenleaf smiled and strapped it on. "See?" he said, "Now let's go try it out!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Mommy look!" Greenleaf called to Cloudjumper.

"What is it?"

"I made wings!" he said in pride. Then he turned to the ledge and ran off it.

"Gri!" Cloudjumper cried in alarm as she raced to the ledge. What she saw surprised her. There Gri was, gliding around the nest! He was wobbly and uncertain, but still gliding!

It took Greenleaf about a year, when he was 8, for him to fully master his hand-made wings. He used bits of scrap and other things he found to make it better and easier to use, and soon soared right along with his dragon friends. He could even flap a little to gain altitude and although he wasn't the fastest, he was certainly the most agile. All he needed was a high cliff to jump off of first.

* * *

Back on Ber,k Valka eventually returned to her normal self. Time and plenty of people around her helped bring out who she once was. But the real tip of the iceberg was when she got pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter whom she named Dagna, meaning new day. Dagna was her reminder that even when disaster struck, there was always a new day to come.

Dagna was born when Hiccup would've been 6, and looked much like him when he was a baby. She had the same unruly, brown hair and round nose that upturned ever so slightly. The only difference were her eyes. Dagna had aqua eyes, like her mother, rather than forest green.

Dagna was Valka and Stoick's pride. She was tough and lean, and albeit a bit small, but determined all the same. The other kids knew not to mess with her.

Part of the reason she was like this was because she learned at a very young age what happened to her brother. Part of her wanted to show her parents that she could be enough for them, even without Hiccup, and the other part wanted to become the strongest so that she could avenge her brother. She had a mixed personality.

The one person whom Dagna did not heal with her birth over Hiccup's kidnapping was, surprisingly, Snotlout. He never actually knew his cousin, but he was determined to find him, dead or alive (preferably the latter) and kill the beast that took him. He memorized Valka's description of the dragon and also remembered about Hiccup's scar in case he ever met him. Snotlout was more determined than even Dagna.

One year after Dagna's birth, Snotlout ventured into the woods to train on his own. He went deeper and deeper until he came into a large clearing, good for his exercises. But in the middle of his training, a hord of Terrible Terrors swooped in. With anyone else, they would've been scorched and clawed to death. But not Snotlout.

He grabbed his sword and started hacking with a vengence. The entire time, he kept thinking that this was the dragon that took Hiccup, so it needed to die. Soon, 15 Terrors lay dead at his feet.

Proud of his victory, Snotlout draghed them all back on a piece of large bark and presented them to Stoick, Valka, and his father. The two men were mighty pleased, but Valka looked ready to be sick. Snotlout wasn't sure why.

When Snotlout was 9, he killed a Nadder in a drahon attack. It was mostly by accident, but he got the credit all the same.

At the age of 12, Snotlout saved the Thorston twins during a massive dragon raid, and stopped half the buildings from burning down.

When he turned 13, he dissappeared and turned up a week later, claiming to have been searching for the dragon that took Hiccup.

By the time Snotlout started dragon training at age 15, he was already well known and well liked. He had a slightly pompous attitude, and a little more than boastful, but those who knew him knew that his one true goal was to avenge his cousin, even if it meant the death of him.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**  
After Hiccup made wings for himself, he explored outside the nest a lot more with Brightscales. He even snuck into human villages to listen to their speech in an attempt to learn Norse. Part of the reason was because he was human, and wanted to know how to speak human. Another reason was to help his dragon friends. He taught Brightscales the human word for 'kill' so that if she ever heard it then she would know to get away as fast as possible. He also taught her his name in human speech, so that if she ever heard a human say it then she knew they were talking about him.

One day, when Greenleaf was 13, he and Brightscales found a nice island to relax so that Gri could practice his human speech. The island just so happened to be Berk, and Snotlout had just happened to have have birthday then, meaning he was out on his 'quest.' And Greenleaf, for the first time, would see a human relative of his.

Gri and Brit were sitting on a ledge overlooking the sea, with the forest behind them. Gri was trying to speak human to Brightscales. "N-name is Gri," he stumbled. "H-hello. H-h-hi? Hello. O-o-o ur you?"

"Is that really how they talk?" Brit asked in a teasing tone.

"This is harder than it looks!" Gri said with a glare. He cleared his throat and started again. "Hello. Ooo ur you? Name is Gri. Friend?" Gri knew it was a bit off, but he was pretty sure that it was at least understandable.

Greenleaf was about to start again when he heard a voice off in the woods. Brit heard it too.

It was Snotlout, and he was yelling loudly at the sky, as if it could restore his cousin for him. "Where are you, dragon? Come out! You took my cousin, so you'll like me too, since we share blood! Come on out and face me, so I can kill you!"

Greenleaf only recognized the words 'dragon, come, took, blood, face, and kill.' He vaguely knew what 'I' and 'so' was, but what he heard was enough for him. "Go!" he said to Brightscales, "I'll catch up with you!"

"But-"

"Go!"

She left, but stayed close by just in case. Gri, on the other hand, ventured a bit into the woods to follow the voice. He came upon a boy his age, still yelling, with a sword in his hand and a shield in the other. Paint marked his face in an almost savage way, and his black hair hung loose and greasy.

Greenleaf hid in the bushes and watched as his cousin continue his rant. It fascinated him, and he wanted to here every word. However, in an attempt to get closer, Snotlout heard a rustle and quickly turned to face any opposer. Gri turned heel and ran back to the cliff, prompting Snotlout to chase after him because of all the noise.

Greenleaf jumped from the cliff and spread his wings, gliding away and using his momentum to gain altitude and meet up with Brit. Snotlout never saw him, and wouldn't know until much later that he had been so very close to completing his quest.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A week prior to the day, Gri had turned 16. And now, he was sitting on the edge of his nest, staring out and deep in thought.

"What troubles you, young one?" Cloudjumper asked her son.

"Why did you take me?" Gri asked, "Why did you take me away from the humans?"

"Because you are a dragon at heart. I could sense that. Are you mad that I did?"

Gri shook his head. "I've seen how wretched humans can be. But..."

"But what?" Cloudjumper asked.

"I don't fully fit in. My friends accept me as me, but I still don't fit in. I have to make my fire, and my wings, and I won't really grow much bigger than this. But at the same time, I know I wouldn't fit in with humans. What am I?"

Cloudjumper sighed and wrapped her tail around Gri. "You are Greenleaf," she answered, "You have the mind of a human, the soul of a dragon, and the heart that holds the best of both. There is no one in the entire world like you, which makes you so special, so different. So when you ask what you are, I can only answer with 'you.' Do you understand?"

"I think so," Gri decided. He smiled at his mother and said, "Thanks."

"Not a problem, little one. Now go be with your friends. They are waiting for you."

Greenleaf smiled again and jumped down. He glided the shot distance to where his friends where gathering and joined in on their conversation. Soon, they were playing tag. Unlike humans, dragons never grew old of childish games.

**(And now, because the chapter is so short: dragon tag!)**

Gri hopped onto Brightscales back as he and his friends took to the air. Once they got high enough, he sread his wings and jumped to fly on his own.

"Thunderboom is it!" Sparks called, referring to the large Gronckle that almost sounded like a Thunderdrum when he roared.

The group scattered as Boom started to chase them down. As a Gronkle, he wasn't very fast, but each dragon had their perks. Boom roared at Icy, the blue Terror, stunning her for a moment so that he could catch her. Icy squawked angrily at him for a moment before giving chase to Sparks, the Nightmare.

"Can't catch me!" Sparks taunted, accidentally catching herself aflame.

"Watch it!" Gri shouted as he veered away, "Non-fireproof person coming through!"

"Whups!" Sparks said just as Icy caught Brit.

"No fair, I was distracted!" Brit complained but started chasing Stoc, the Snaptrapper. Each letter stood for for a head. S, T, and C where Snatcher, Trapper, and Chomper. O was simply Ollie.

Stoc avoided Brightscales, but Snatcher got into an argument with Chomper and they accidentally ran into a cliff. Brit took to chasing Gri instead.

Greenleaf was the slowest flyer out of all of them, but he was so small he could do things the others couldn't. Right before Brit caught him, he dived, folding his arms to his sides to get as much speed as possible and Brightscales dived after him. Brit pulled up thirty feet from the ground, but Gri waited until the veey last second before spreading his arms and shooting across the ground floor. Brit gave chase, but by then his momentum was so great that she could not keep up.

She turned to go chase Sparks which gave Gri the chance to gain altitude and rejoin the group. However, Brit was determined and came after him again. This time, Thunderboom blocked his way (on purpose) and he was caught.

Greenleaf glared at Boom who smirked and flew off. Gri gave chase, but he had lost all his speed and even the Gronckle was faster than him. So Gri decided to pull another trick of his.

He hid behind the tall structure of plants and ice in the middle of the nest and climed to the very top. There, he waited patiently until he saw Icy come by with Stoc and Sparks. Brit and Boom were nowhere to be found.

The three dragons below where turning all over, trying to find Greenleaf. He snickered, and then jumped down into a dive, heading straight towards them. Ten feet above, he spread his wings just a bit and turned his feet downward. With a softened thud, he landed on Stoc and announced, "You're it!" Then he jumped off and was gone in a flash, leaving Icy and Sparks to scatter.

The game lasted for nearly two hours, before it was feeding time and they were all called back. In the end, Icy had won the game, having been caught the least, with Gri in second. Next came, Boom, then Brit, and Sparks and Stoc tied for last.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Greenleaf is 17

Brightscales and Greenleaf were back on Berk, since it was very close and also a very nice island. Sparks and Stoc had beem with them earlier, along with a young Zippleback named Tox and Ic, separately (their parents weren't that creative).

Toxic got tired so Sparks and Stoc took them back while Gri and Brit decided to rest on that same ledge from all those years ago.

Brit caught some fish for the two of them, and Gri quickly flamed his before eating.

"I've always meant to ask. How does that work?" Brit asked, referring to Gri's contraption that breathed fire for him.

"Well, when I first came up with the idea, I first went to Sparks and asked how her scales caught fire. She said that her scales have a special coat over them, kind of like wax. When she wants to catch fire, the coat dissolves, leaving her scales open. And since they are very flammable without the coat, it is very easy to light them up. And, for some reason, they don't burn up, at all. So she helped me and shook loose some scales with no coat on them. It took a while, but I crushed them up and put them in this fireproof container. When I press the button, it strikes two stones together and creates sparks, catching the scales on fire. Depending on how I adjust the nozzle, it comes out differently. When I let go of the button, the sparks stop so the scales loose their flame." Greenleaf explained all this while showing his ingenious contraption, pointing to the different parts.

"I actually understood that," Brit said.

"Don't act so surprised," Gri replied as he replaced his Firebreather back into its strap on his leg.

Brith snorted then looked at the sun. "We need to leave in an hour or two," she commented.

"Good. That gives me time."

"For what?" Brit asked.

"To check out the human village! I'll meet you back here when the sun kisses the earth," Gri said before standing up and running into the woods.

"Don't be late or your mother will have my wings!" Brit warned.

"I'm never late!" Gri shouted back.

Brightscales snorted and took off, very keen on finding a nice rock to soak up the last bit if the sun's warmth. Down in the forest, Greenleaf leapt like a deer through the trees, excited to get a close look at humans again.

Gri came to the edge of the forest and looked out. Nearly everyone he saw was huge, with big muscles and tall statures. Living the life that he did, Gri certainly had a strong build. But he was still dwarfed by many of the humans he saw.

Greenleaf was considering getting closer when he heard a voice behind him. "Hey!" Gri jumped and turned, to find a human looking at him with questioning eyes. He recognized that this was a female, and around his age. She had blonde hair, and strong arms, plus an axe on her back. "Who are you?" she asked.

Gri recognized the phrase, and responded, "Gri. Ooo ur you?"

"Astrid," she replied, "Where did you come from?"

Gri only recognized 'you' and 'come.' He had heard the word 'from' before and took a wild guess at what it meant. "Not..." Gri searched for the right word, "here," he decided.

"Yes, but where?" Astrid asked.

Gri scrunched up his face and shook his head. "No," he replied, "No...speak? Hmmm...little speak...lanwage." Gri was pretry sure he got the last word wrong, but Astrid seemed to understand.

"You don't speak Norse?" she asked.

"Ummmmm, yes?" Gri guessed.

"Ok...where is home?" she tried.

Gri had heard the word home before. What did it mean again? Oh yeah! Gri pointed to past Astrid and said, "Far."

"Ok...why are you here?"

Greenleaf cocked his head for a moment, trying to find the right word. He had heard it before, but he forgotten the sound... Expate? Exloo? Explo? Gri took a guess and answered, "Exore."

"Explore?" Astrid asked.

Gri nodded. Then he pointed and said, "Home. Bye." He was about to leave when Astrid stopped him, suspicion in her eyes.

"Why were you spying on Berk?" she asked. Gri looked at her blankly. Asteid sighed and reworded, "Why see Berk?" She pointed at the village behind them.

Gri pointed to his mouth and said. "Learn. Speak."

Astrid still looked suspicious. "How do I know you're not a spy?"

Gri sighed. In dragonese, he said, "Look. I don't know what you're saying. I don't know why you're looking at me like I'm gonna burn the place to the ground, but I kinda need to get home soon or else my mother is going to worry."

Astrid looked taken aback at the odd language, and fortunately didn't connect that it sounded a lot like dragons when they made odd noises to each other. But she didn't get a chance to respond because just then Snotlout stumbled in and looked between the two in confusion.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Astrid sighed. "I just found this kid spying on Berk, but he can only speak a little Norse and claims to be trying to learn. I'm not so sure."

Snotlout turned to look at Gri full in the face and the paused. He squinted, took a step back, and then gasped.

"What's wrong with you?" Astrid asked.

"Uhhh, Astrid! He looks exactly like Dagna! But with green eyes!" Snotlout walked toward Gri, who backed up in alarm. "It's ok, just lemme see your chin." Gri didn't really know what he said, but kept backing up. He turned his head a bit to look behind him, and that's when Snotlout saw it. The scar. Right where Valka said it would be. "Hiccup!" he cried and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward Berk. "Common Astrid!"

Gri wasn't really sure what was going on, but he decided it would be best to just go along with it, at least for now. He glanced at the sun and saw that he had less than an hour before he was to meet up with Brightscales. Hopefully, this will be quick.

Greenleaf was led to the largest structure, where Snotlout pounded on the door until a girl who looked to be about 11 opened it. "What do you want?" she asked gruffly.

"Where's Valka? And the chief?" Snotlout demanded.

"Don't be so rude," Dagna replied, "My mom is upstairs and Dad is down by Gobber's. What's this about?"

"Just go upstairs and get your mom! Astrid-"

"Already on it," Astrid said as she raced down the hill to get the chief.

Snotlout barged into the house and pushed Hiccup into a chair while Dagna went to get Valka. The black haired teen turned in a full circle before turning back to Gri and saying, "You're really Hiccup!"

Gri understood enough, and shook his head. "No. Name is Gri."

Snotlout looked at him confused, but just then Valka came rushing down with Dagna behind her. "What's going on?" she asked. Snotlout simply pointed at Gri. Valka turned and caught her breath at the sight of the very confused Greenleaf. She walked forward slowly, hand out to cup his face. Gri pressed himself up against the chair, but didn't fight when Valka turned his cheek to look at the scar on his chin. "Hiccup?" she whispered.

Stoick barged in, interrupting the moment. "What's wrong?" he cried.

Valka looked at him with tears in her eyes and said softly, "Out son has come home."

Stoick looked past her to see the frightened Gri. He walked forward and knelt in front of him, eyes starting to moisten. "Hiccup?" he whispered, just as Valka did.

Gri couldn't take it anymore. "No. Name is Gri. Greenleaf. Go home. Have to go home."

"I don't understand," Valka said.

Astrid, who was standing in the doorway, explained, "I found him looking at Berk. He doesn't speak a lot of Norse, and when I asked him where he came from, he pointed that way," she said, pointing in the same direction.

Stoick stood, still looking at his son. "He was taken when he was young," the chief reasoned, "He wouldn't remember us."

"Then we'll just have to tell him," Valka said, determined. She knelt in front of Gri and pointed to herself saying, "Your mother."

Gri shook his head. He pointed to the right and said, "Home. Have to go. Late."

"But you're my son," Valka whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Dagna, who had been quiet the entire time, decided to step in. "Mom, lemme try." She didn't wait for an answer ans she took Gri's hand and pulled him up. "What was your name?" she asked.

"Greenleaf. Call Gri," he replied.

Dagna smiled and said, "Well, Gri, could you come over here please?" She led him over to where a mirror hung. She took it down, stood on a stool next to Gri, and held it up. Greenleaf had to admit their similarities, besides the eyes. "We look the same. That's because I'm your sister. My name is Dagna." She climbed down from the stool and put the mirror down. "That's Mom," she said, pointing to Valka, "And Dad. And he's our cousin, Snotlout. And the girl over there is Astrid," Dagna said, pointing to each in turn.

Gri looked around at each of the unfamiliar faces. He knew that it was quite possible that this really was the family Cloudjumper took him from. But this big man was not his father. And this woman certainly wasn't his mother. His mother was Cloudjumper. And he had no father.

Gri needed to explain this, somehow. He put his arms together, like holding a baby and said, "Taken. Dragons. Me." He pointed to himself. "Rescued. Grew...family and home," Gri pointing into the distance again. He decided to leave out the part where he was raised by dragons.

"But we're your family," Valka cried.

"Maybe," Gri admitted, "But have mother. And friends. Home. Go home." Gri stumbled over his words but was quite pleased with how much he remembered.

"Couldn't you stay for at least a little while?" Dagna asked. Unlike most in the room, she actually was thinking straight. She knew that though this was their Hiccup, he still grew up somewhere else and probably had people he loved there. They couldn't just ask him to leave his loved ones behind.

Gri looked at her and slowly processed her words. 'You stay...little.' He understood. Gri nodded and replied, "Ok. But soon, go home."

That was enough for Stoick and Valka. While they wanted him to stay forever, they were slowly starting to understand as well that Hiccup -Gri had a life of his own.

The next couple hours where a blur for Gri. There were a lot of hugs involved, and tears, and plenty of talking that he mostly didn't understand. When it got late, Gri was led to a room upstairs for him to rest in. The simple bed and furniture made him miss his nest at home.

Valka was quickly straightening everything out for him to sleep. "There you go!" she said, "Do you need anything? You probably want to take...that thing off," she said, gesturing to Gri's wings. She made a move to help him unstrap them but he wouldn't let her. Dragons didn't just take their wings off. Neither did Gri. Valka seemed to understand, and left after giving him a kiss on the cheek. Gri was unfamiliar with kisses, but didn't push away.

Greenleaf lied awake in his bed for about an hour before crawling out his window and climbing up to the roof. He whistled a special call that he and Brit made up, then waited for his friend to appear.

"Gri, there you are!" Brit exclaimed as she landed softly next to him, "What happened?"

"I think I found my human parents," Gri said bluntly, "At least, they seem to think I'm their son. I told them I'll stay for a little while, but soon I have to go home." Before Brit could argue, Gri gave her instructions. "Go back to the nest and ask my mother where she took me from. Come back here tomorrow night. If it is this place, I'll stay for a little while. If not, I'll tell them it's not me and leave."

"You sure?" Brit asked.

"Yes. The dragon nest will always be my home, but if this is where I came from..." Gri didn't finish. And he didn't have to. Brit understood.

"Ok. I'll do it. Just be careful, ok?"

Gri gave her his trademark smirk and replied, "I'm always careful." She rolled her eyes and gave him a slap with her wing before taking off. Gri smiled and climbed back into his room. He yawned and made an sort of hammock with the blankets to sleep in. It was more comfortable that way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Some of you have been asking where Toothless is in this story. My answer is: be patient. Since Hiccup/Greenleaf grew up in a different nest than Toothless, he will have to meet him a different way. But he will come in...soon.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Gri woke just as the sun peeked over the horizon and yawned. Judging from the lack of noise, he guessed that humans didn't get up as early as dragons. But he was hungry, so Gri decided to find some food.

As silent as a shadow, he slipped out of the house and walked along the path that led towards the docks. But instead of going down, he walked to the ledge and jumped, spreading his wings at the last moment so that he sailed over the ocean blue. The crisp wind felt good in his face, and helped him fully wake up.

Gri sighed in contentment and then dove into the water. He shot downward, and snatched at an unsuspecting fish. Then he swam up to the surface, and used his feet to kick high enough so that he was gliding again. But he didn't have enough speed. At this point, his mother or a friend would usually snatch him up and fly him high enough for him to get going again. But Gri was all by himself.

"Might as well try..." Gri thought as he quickly moved the hand not holding his fish to press a button on his chest. A spring released, and fabric shot from where it was being held. It spread out, and soon Gri's wings had doubled in size. "It worked!" he thought happily. He had never actually tested that before.

With his new wingspan, Gri was able to flap and gain enough altitude to land back on the cliff. Very pleased with his success, he hit his fish against a rock to kill it then set it down so that he could roll in the extra fabric. As he did this, he heard a voice behind him.

"I'm not sure what to say, so I'll just say, 'Wow.'"

Gri turned to see Astrid, who was staring in shock at what she apparently just witnessed. "Oh. Hello," Gri said.

Astrid walked forward asked, "May I?" Gri didn't know what she said, but she seemed to think he agreed so she put up his arm to look at his wings. "Incredible. Did you make this?" She saw his face and instead said, "You made this?" She pointed at the fabric of Gri's wing.

"Yes. Wings," he explained.

"Amazing," Astrid whispered as she ran her fingers over the smpoth material.

"Thank you," Gri replied with a smile. He knew what amazing meant. Then he picked up his fish and pulled out his Firebreather.

"What's that?" Astrid asked.

"Fire," Gri replied as he flamed the fish.

Astrid jumped back but quickly composed herself and asked, "Why do you have a fish?"

"Eat," Gri stated simply.

Astrid shook her head. "You don't need to eat lke this. Come on." She took the fish and threw it over the ledge, much to Gri's dismay, but then took his hand and led him to the Mead Hall. "This is where we eat," she explained, "I'll get some food."

Gri waited at a table until Astrid came back with two bowls of porridge. She put one in front of Gri and then gave him a spoon, before digging in to hers.

Now Gri was raised his whole life by dragons. He had never used silverware, ever. Not wanting to raise suspicion, Gri watched how Astrid used the spoon and copied her. He held it oddly, but it still worked and the blonde Viking never noticed there was something amiss.

However, that was only the first challenge of breakfast. Again, Gri had only ever been raised by dragons. And he had pretty much only had ever eaten fish, and sometimes fruit. Porridge was weird and strange to him. The slippery, slimyness wasn't too bad, becuase he was used to fish, but the actual taste of it was completely different. It was bland and mushy, with the only flavor being the light sprinkling of cinnamon that had been mixed in with it. But Gri forced himself to eat every bite.

"Thank you," Gri said when they were done.

"No problem," Astrid replied, "I know our cook isn't the best out there but that's mainly due to the fact that we don't get much trading when it comes to spices and cooking herbs." Gri understood about six words in total. Astrid didn't seem to mind, however, because then she grabbed his hand and said, "Common! I'll introduce you to my friends!"

By this time, much of the village had woken up. They ran into a worried Stoick, who had slightly freaked out when he saw Gri was gone. He calmed down but still looked a lot like a crazed father.

"Ok, just wanted to make sure Hiccup wasn't gone. But he's alright," he said more to himself than Astrid or Gri. "I should tell Valka...and Dagna...yeah. Oh, and Astrid? Could you show Hiccup around, get him familiar with everything?"

Astrid translated this to, 'Don't you dare let anything happen to my son.' She snickered and replied, "Sure chief. But you know, his name is Gri. You should learn it."

"No, he's my son and my son's name is Hiccup." With that, Stoick walked away to tell Valka that their son hadn't disappeared again. Greenleaf watched his retreat and shrugged.

Astrid rolled her eyes and grabbed Gri's hand again. "Over here! We like to hang out by the dragin arena." Gri understood 'dragon' and started to get excited. Maybe this place was friendly to dragons?

Astrid led him through the village, ignoring all the stares they got. Greenleaf didn't know this, but Stoick had called an emergency meeting the night before to explain the situation. He was also very clear on making sure no one crowded Gri. That was Valka's idea. She knew that this all was probably very difficult for Gri, not to mention he can barely pull a sentence together in Norse. So the town simply stared. Greenleaf didn't mind too much.

Soon, the two came to the dragon arena, whicj was empty at the moment. Beside it, there was Snotlout, two other boys, and a girl talking amongst themselves. When theu spotted Astrid, they all got excited and waved her and Gri over.

"Hey guys," Astrid said, "This is Gri. He's the chief's son."

"And my cousin!" Snotlout added loudly.

"Wow," the thinner boy said, "How did you escape the dragon? Did you kill it?" he asked, excited.

"When you were only a baby! Awesome!" the girl commented.

Greenleaf didn't understand much, but he did troubled him.

"Shut up," Astrid ordered sharply, "Gri doesn't speak a lot of Norse. He barely understands us."

"Isn't his name Hiccup?" the large boy asked.

"Yes, but wherever he grew up they named him Greenleaf so just call him Gri," Astrid explained.

"They?" the thin boy asked.

"Did the dragon name him?" the girl asked stupidly. She didn't know that she actually wasn't far from the truth.

"No! Of course not!" Astrid exclaimed, "He said that he was rescued."

"By who?" the large boy asked.

"Who named him?" the girl added.

"Probably his mother."

"You mean Valka?" the thin boy asked.

"No, Valka named him Hiccup," Snotlout replied.

"But she said his mother."

"I mean his adoptive mother that raised him!" Astrid huffed, "He said that he was rescued from the dragons, and raised somewhere else, and that he has a family and friends there!"

"Ooooh," the three chorused.

Gri had had enough. "Stop!" He stepped forward and sighed. "Confused," he said, "Slow. Now, names."

"Right," Astrid said, looking embarrassed, "I forgot to introduce you to everyone." She pointed at the large boy and said, "That's Fishlegs. Those two are twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut," she explained, pointing to the girl and boy, respectively. "And you already know Snotlout."

"Hello," Gri said, not having anything else.

"So what language does he speak?" Ruffnut asked, looking only half interested. The other half of her brain was thinking that he was much cuter than Snotlout or Fishlegs.

"Don't know," Astrid admitted, "I heard him speak it once, but I didn't recognize it."

"I think I could!" Fishlegs announced. He turned to Gri and said, "Talk in yout language."

Greenleaf looked at him with are-you-kidding-me eyes and shook his head.

Astrid sighed and said to him, "Speak. Your language."

"Are you asking me talk in my language?" Gri asked in dragonese.

Astrid nodded, not knowing she was answering his question.

"Well, this is my native language," Gri continued, "It's dragonese, but you don't need to know that since you seem to kill dragons. Obviously, I kinda have an accent, at least to dragons, because my mouth structure can't make the same noises as them."

Fishlegs shook his head. "I don't recognize it," he admitted sadly.

Suddenly, Gri was taken by the arm and pulled away. When he turned, he saw it was Dagna. "I'm sure you all were having a nice conversation with Greenleaf here, but I'm gonna get to know my brother now," Dagna stated, making it obvious that there was no room for argument. "Toodles!"

Gri simply shrugged and waved to his sort-of new friends. Astrid huffed but waved back, as did the others. Gri then turned to have some 'sibling bonding' with Dagna.

* * *

**Don't expect another chapter until late next week. Bye.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it's late. Life happened. **

* * *

Chapter 8

Dagna pulled her brother away, glee on her face. "Follow me! I have a surprise for you!" she said, her youthful spirit kicking in. Gri didn't understand her, but did not argue. She was only 11, after all.

Dagna led Gri through the whole village, ignoring all stares, until they passed it by altogether. They followed a well worn road up a hill, through the forest, and into a grove of odd looking trees bearing purple and red fruit.

"These are Fire Trees," Dagna explained, "And the fruit is called hiccup. I don't know why the trees are called Fire Trees, but the fruit is called hiccup because it was the great leader Hiccup Horrendous Haddock who discovered them. I know you call yourself Greenleaf, but you were named after him and the fruit is really good." She plucked one off a low branch and handed it to him. Gri took it and slowly took a bite. The sweet taste of nectar and citrus filled his mouth, and he quickly took another large bite.

"Good," he said with a smile.

Dagna smiled as well and plucked her own 'hiccup' fruit. "These only bloom for a week before they turn rotten. You're lucky that you get to try them. Dad tried to collect them every year, but it's so far and the fruit is only ripe in such a small span of time, that it wasn't worth it. He tried bringing some seeds over to plant closer, but they never take root. All the books say that these were planted by Odin himself, and only on this spot can they grow. I don't believe it, though. I think it's just an excuse as to why they won't grow anywhere but here."

Greenleaf had tuned out most of Dagna's explanation. It wasn't that he wasn't interested, it's just that he hardly had a clue what she was saying. But Gri wanted to change that. When Dagna finished talking, he said, "Help me." Then he walked over to a rock and pointed to it saying, "Word?"

"Rock," Dagna replied, walking over, "That's a rock."

"Rock," Gri repeated.

"What is it in you're language?" Dagna asked. When Gri didn't answer, she pointed at the rock and asked, "Word?"

Gri said the word in dragonese. Dagna tried to imitate it, but found it was rather difficult. Since the language was spoken by dragons, it consisted more of sounds rather than words. And Dagna just couldn't quite get her lips to hum and whistle at the same time.

Gri smiled and told her, "Get there."

Dagna nodded, "I'll have to practice. But so do you." She pointed to a Fire Tree and said, "Tree."

"Tree," Gri imitated.

"Grass." Dagna pointed to the grass beneath them. Then she pointed up and said, "Sky."

"Rock, tree, grass, sky," Greenleaf practiced.

Dagna giggled and then grabbed his hand. She held it up to him and said, "Hand. Palm. Fingers," pointing to each in turn. "Thumb," she said, pointing to Gri's rather stubby one.

Gri smiled and reached up to the tree above him. He pulled of a leaf and held up up. "Leaf. Green. Like me," Gri said.

Dagna nodded. She bent down and picked up a fallen leaf, saying, "Leaf. Orange."

Gri picked up another fallen leaf and inspected it carefully. "Leaf. Fire," he decided.

Dagna laughed. "It is the colors of a fire, yes. Up top, it's red, then it kinda turns yellowish."

Gri nodded and picked up two different leaves. To one he said, "Leaf. Red." To the other, "Leaf. Yellowish."

"Close enough," Dagna giggled.

Brother and sister spent the entire morning conversing in any way they could. Dagna managed to master a few words in Dragonese, but Gri made great progress with Norse. The only thing was, all he knew was objects. And objects didn't make talking easy. What he really needed to learn were articles, verbs, and nouns that weren't things.

When the sun came to be directly above them, Dagna knew it was time to leave. "It's lunch time," she explained, "It's time to eat."

Gri pointed at the hiccup fruit above them and said, "Eat."

"Well, we can take some with us," Dagna decided, "Get as many as you can!" She started to collect them in her arms, and Gri followed suite. They soon had thirteen in between the two of them. "Come on! Be careful though. We don't want to drop any hiccups!" This was a joke that Dagna had wanted to say to her brother ever since she learned of his existence. And now he was here. But he didn't understand. Suddenly, Dagna realized exactly what her parents must be going through. Their son was home, but he didn't know them at all. And he didn't even speak their language enough to get to know him.

Dagna looked back at her older brother and said slowly, "Gri...would you mind if I called you Hiccup?" Gri thought hard for several seconds but then shook his head sadly. Dagna knew it was because he didn't understand her. "I...call you Hiccup? Please?"

"Name is Gri," Greenleaf replied, still confused.

"Ahh, never mind. It's not important," Dagna decided and continued on her way.

There was silence for several minutes until Gri said, "Sorry."

"Sorry?"

Gri sighed. "No understand. Don't know. Sorry."

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

"I really brother?" Gri asked after some silence.

"Yes," Dagna replied confidently, "Don't we look alike? But you have Dad's eyes. I have Mom's."

"Mom...and Dad," Gri said slowly, "Parents?"

Dagna nodded, "Mom is really happy you're here. She wants to spend time with you tonight, and so does Dad. Mom is really soft and kind, but she likes adventure. Dad is obsessed with finding the dragon's nest. Maybe now that you're here, he won't go out as much. I'm always afraid he won't come back."

"Dragons..." Gri said slowly, "You kill dragons?"

"Well, of course. Yes. We have to. They attack us and steal our food."

Gri took a couple minutes to process what she said. Then he nodded, and said, "Probably have to. Queen dragon. Controll."

Dagna stopped walking and turned to face him. "A queen dragon controlls them? But...how could you possibly know this?" She sighed and rephrased, "How know this?"

"Every nest. Same. Some queens good. Some not. Some kings. Some kings good. Some not," Gri explained. He knew he was taking a risk saying this, but maybe he could stop more dragons from being killed.

"Did you kill a bad queen?" Dagna asked, "In a nest near you?"

"No," Gri said, shaking his head, "Nest near, good king. No attack, no kill."

"You just live peacefully with a dragon nest nearby, and they don't attack at all?"

Gri nodded, he understood enough. "Don't need to. King is good. Feed dragons. No attack to eat, so no reason to attack."

"If...if we kill the bad queen, will the dragons stop attacking?" Dagna asked hopefully.

"Yes," Gri replied confidently. It had worked before, after all. "Hopefully it's not a king..." he muttered silently to himself in dragonese.

"We have to tell Dad!" Dagna declared. She turned around and started running through the trees, still being careful not to drop any hiccups. Gri ran after her, not entirely sure what she was so excited about. This may be new information, but killing a queen is still hard. Even with an army of dragons it had been difficult. The king himself almost came to free their fellow dragons from the tyranny of the Purple Death, as the humans called her.

The two made it out of the woods, and Dagna all but sprinted down the hill. They made a quick stop at the empty house to drop off their hiccups, but then they continued on down to the Mead Hall.

"Dad!" Dagna cried as she burst through the doors. Stoick was at a rowdy table that included some drinking. "Dad!" she called again, and he turned.

"What's the matter?" he asked, suddenly taking the tone of a worried chief and father. His eyes quickly scanned the room until he spotted Gri, and gave a sigh of relief that he was okay.

"Gri told me something! I have to talk to you, now!" She grabbed his arm and began tugging him towards the door, where Gri stood awkwardly, not sure of what was going on.

Stoick let himself be pulled away, giving the Vikings behind him a shrug. Dagna led him outside, and was sure to pull Gri with her. They went to an alley were no one would hear them before Dagna let go ot Stoick and Gri. She wasn't exactly sure why this needed to be a secret, but she felt like it should be.

"What's going on?" Stoick asked.

"Well, I was talking with Gri-"

"Hiccup," Stoick corrected.

"-Gri," Dagna replied stubbornly, "And he said that all dragon nests have either a king or a queen that controlls all the dragons. And he said that the king or queen is either good or bad. if it's good, then the dragons don't even bother you. But if it's bad, then they are controlled to attack us."

Stoick turned to Gri. "How do you know this?" he asked.

"Nest near, good king. Don't attack. Also nest near, bad queen. Attacked. Dragons from good king helped. Killed bad queen. No more attacks."

"Dragons...helped you?" Stoick asked, not really believing it.

"Yes," Gri replied.

Stoick was silent for a long while. He was obviously torn by his hatred of dragons, but if there was a possibility of simply killing one queen instead of an entire nest, then he had to consider it. "I have to think about this," Stoick finally said. He looked at both of his children with stern eyes, then walked away, deep in thought.

"Well that went better than I thought," Dagna admitted.

Gri looked at her strangly. Dagna simply smiled and said, "Let's go eat."

* * *

**Hiccup not being able to speak Norse is annoying. However, judging by how he is in the movies, I'm quite positive that he's a genius, and also has a really good memory. I mean, he drew all those awesome pictures of Toothless and I'm sure the dragon didn't wait around for him to draw it. So if Hiccup seems like he's learning Norse really quickly, don't be alarmed. I just feel like he would be able to learn it quickly. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello. Before you start reading, please note that I know Cloudjumper is a boy. He's just not in this story, kay? Oh, and this chapter has what you have all been begging for. I promised it would happen, so here you go!**

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Chapter 9

Night settled over Berk, its innahbitants hoping for a peaceful sleep, with no dragom raids to bother them. There was one dragon, however. A small Nadder with the brightest purple scales ever to be seen. This Nadder landed on the roof of the Chief's house, silent as a shadow. From the side, a window opened and a figure climbed out, meeting the dragon on the roof.

"You're late," Gri said.

"Am not!" Brit cried indignantly. Gri shushed her and she quieted down. "I am not late!" she whispered.

Gri looked at her with an amused expression and asked, "Rough flight?"

"Worse than you would believe. This queen from another nest tried pulling me under her control, then I got attacked by two Nightmares!"

"I'm sorry," Gri said sincerely.

"Yes, well, that's not why I'm here." Brit took a breath and said, "I talked to you're mother and...you do come from here."

Gri sighed and closed his eyes. "So those are my parents then. And...my little sister."

"Gri..." Brit said slowly, "Are you going to stay?"

"For a little while, I think. Plus, they are getting attacked by dragons! If I can find the nest and stop the queen, then I can stop this war!"

"But Gri, we barely managed to take down that other queen, and we had a whole army of dragons!" Brit replied, worried her friend might do something stupid.

"But that was also a very big nest," Gri argued, "Bigger than ours. This one will probably be much smaller!"

"But...two-leggers aren't much of a match against a queen dragon!"

"They are called humans, and if you know the weak spots, any dragon can be taken down. The same goes for the humans as well. Everyone has a weak spot."

"I don't want you to get hurt," Brit told him.

Gri gave her a cheeky grin and replied, "Don't worry. I'm not stupid enough to march in and face the queen alone. If it's a king, then I won't even bother."

"Only another king can kill a king," Brit continued for him.

"Exactly. I just need to find a way in. After that, I'm sure I'll come up with something."

"Mr. Smarty-Wings always does," Brit teased,

"I told you not to call me that!" Gri grumbled.

"Well, then stop being so smart!" Brit avoided the boy's shove and took to the sky. She hovered a couple feet above him and asked, "When should I come back?"

"When the moon is round again," Gri replied, "Don't be late!"

"I'm never late!" Brit chirped before flying off.

Gri shook his head and crawled back inside the house.

* * *

**One week later**

Gri stood on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the sea. It was very early in the morning; the sun won't rise for another hour or so.

Greenleaf closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the smells of the sea take him over. "Salt," he whispered in Norse, "Sea salt." He had learned both words just yesterday, and his clever mind put them together. "Salt...water. Salt...o-oshon." He thought that was the Norse word for ocean. Maybe.

Gri sighed in contentment. He never got this kind of peace at the nest. All dragons were early risers, and very loud. Even when they sleep. The silence here made Gri smile. With a brief glance at the village behind him, he jumped off the cliff.

Spreading his arms, Gri caught the wind and was soon soaring. He tilted upwards until he was just below the clouds, getting the most amazing view. The few fires that burned below shone in the night, like orange stars. "Upside down stars," Gri thought to himself. He smiled at his own joke and closed his eyes. He felt more relaxed than he had in years.

A screech pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up, and saw dragons swoop from the sky. "This must be a raid!" he thought as he avoided a diving Zippleback.

Two Nightmares and a Gronkle stopped in front of him. The lead Nightmare hissed and said, "What have we here? A two-legger has learned to fly."

"Two-legger has to learn that dragons own the sky!" the Gronkle roared.

"Wait!" Gri shouted to them, "I mean you no harm. I want to help."

"How do you know how to speak?" the second Nightmare growled.

"I grew up with dragons. I live in a nest ruled by a kind king. I am currently here because apparently my hum- uhh, two-legger birth parents are here," Gri explained, "My name is Greenleaf. Now please tell me, are you ruled by a king or queen?"

"A queen," the lead Nightmare replied while gazing at Gri with untrusful eyes, "Why do you wish to know?"

"Because I know that dragons only attack two-leggers if their king or queen orders it. And they only order it if they are lazy and wicked, making their subjects feed them. I want to help free your nest."

"How do we know you are to be trusted?" the second Nightmare asked.

"I'm one boy, still a hatchling. Even if you can't, how much damage can I really do?"

"This is true," the Gronkle mused, "I think we should let him live."

The lead Nightmare looked him over critically and said, "Very well. We will let you live. But you must get away. If you are in the way, then we will not protect you."

"Of course. Thank you," Gri said as he glided away. It was good the conversation ended then, because he was losing momentum. Fast. Gri was getting ready to dive so that he could level out and land, when an unholy screech filled his ears. Something blasted the catapult he was above to bits, and the force reached Gri where he flew, knocking him aside. The brief tumble sent Gri falling several feet, before he caught himself and managed to level out a bit.

Another screech filled his ears, and whatever caused the destruction below him blasted another catapult on the other end of Berk. Gri could just barely make out a black shape against the dark sky, moving at speeds he didn't think was possible. the shaped veered around for another go. It was going so fast, that neither it nor Gri had time to react or even think when they collided into each other.

Gri gave a yelp as they began to fall, tumbling towards the forest. The dragon that had run into him growled, and pushed Gri away. Both boy and dragon spread their wings to stop their fall, but they were also going so fast that only the former was able to actually level out, due to his agile frame. The latter tumbled into the forest, screeching and roaring all the way.

Greenleaf managed to turn himself and land next to the black dragon, who was lying on its side, breathing heavily with his eyes closed. "Are you okay?" Gri asked.

"Of course I am!" it snapped, "Just give me a moment!" Gri sat down and waited as the dragon slowly stood up and shook itself out. Then it seemed tl realize it had just spoken to a human, for it turned to Gri with death in its eyes. "How do you speak?" he asked.

For the second time within the span of half an hour, Gri explained how he was raised by dragons, that his human parents were here, and that he wanted to help.

"No human wants to help a dragon!" he growled.

"Huh. You say human rather than two-legger," Gri commented.

"Of course I do! That is what your kind is called, after all."

Gri nodded. He looked the dragon over and asked, "What is your name?"

The black dragon stared at him for a moment before replying, "I have none."

"If I may ask, why?"

"Because my family died before they could. And there are none of my kind left to name me."

Gri understood. If a dragon hatchling's parent both die before they are named, then another dragon of their species must name them. But this dragon was all alone? For the first time, Gri really noticed how black this dragon was. Black as night. And his fire...

"Are you a Night Fury?" Gri asked.

The dragon sighed and said, "Yes, I am." He yawned and layed down on the forest floor, eyes drooping; it looked like he had had a long night. Gri noticed something else as well. The dragon had no teeth.

"I didn't know Night Furies were toothless," Gri commented.

The dragon glared at him and opened his mouth, revealing pink gums. Suddenly, a set of razor sharp teeth slid out.

"Wow. Retractable teeth! I've never seen anything like that!...Toothless."

"Excuse me?" the newly dubbed Toothless questioned.

"Well, you're teeth are retractable and I think it fits," Gri mused, "I'm not a Night Fury, but I'm also not a dragon. I name thee Toothless!"

"But I have teeth!" Toothless argued.

"Sure, but just think: your enemies will underestimate you, think you have no teeth, then all of a sudden...Woosh! You chomp down with a mighty jaw, and rise victorious!" Gri was laughing now, his childlike demeanor showing through.

Toothless cracked a smile, but still said, "You're reasoning is flawed."

"Doesn't matter. I'm still calling you Toothless."

"Then what shall I call you then?" Toothless challenged, "Clawless, perhaps?"

"My name is Greenleaf!" Gri objected.

"But I think I'll still call you Clawless," Toothless decided, "So long as you call me Toothless."

"Whatever," Gri growled. He stood and started to pace, when he noticed something. "You're tail!" he cried.

"Yeah," Toothless winced as he pulled it closer, "It's just a scratch. It will heal."

"But you won't be able to fly until it does!" Gri got closer and tried to inspect it, but Toothless growled and pulled it away.

"I'll be fine. Now you better go back to that village of yours, or else you'll be missed." It was obvious that Toothless meant for him to leave. Gri could tell that he still didn't fully trust him.

"I'll be back," Gri promised him, "And I'll bring stuff to help your tail."

"If you can find me," Toothless challenged.

"I will," Gri replied, determined, before walking away.

* * *

**So Toothless's tail isn't completely gone, because he managed to slow himself down a little before crashing. And the reason he kinda acts a little silly is because, as Valka tells us in the second movie, he is the same age as Hiccup. And, obviously, he still doesn't fully trust Gri because he is a human.**

**Some of you probably wanted Toothless ****to grow up with Gri, but that just wouldn't make sense. They are from different nests.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Dear Guest: while you raise a good point about the whole two-leggers thing, I stand by it. Yes, Nightmares have two legs, but they walk on the claws of their wings. Nadders also use their wings to walk, especially when they climb. Plus, 'two-leggers' is more of a general term, for all humans. Most dragons have more than two legs.**

* * *

Chapter 10

Gri ran all the way back to the village, not wanting to be missed. Last time that happened, Stoick panicked and sent out search parties into the forest. It would've been amusing to watch, if Gri hadn't been at the center of it all.

When Greenleaf made it back, he found himself eveloped in a mixture of skin, armor, red (from both hair and blood) and sweat. It was most unpleasant. Stocik was saying something like, "Oh thank Odin! I thought you had been carried off!" Gri was next enveloped by Valka, which wasn't nearly as bad. Somewhere to his right, he heard Dagna snickering. Humans were weird.

* * *

The next day, Gri snuck out into the woods with medical supplies and fish. And by snuck out, that meant he had to leave at night, since he had eyes on him at all times.

Tracking Toothless was much harder than Gri had anticipated. First off, it was night, and it was next to impossible to see with the trees blocking out the stars. Second, Gri was trying to track down a **Night Fury. **Of all things, a Night Fury. Quite nearly impossible to track. And Toothless knew this. However, he failed to account for the fact that Gri had grown up with dragons, and was used to hide-and-seek with them. There were always signs, if you knew how to spot them.

Gri first went to where Toothless crashed. Then he carefully inspected the ground, searching for tracks. Toothless was smarter than that. But so was Gri. When tracks were not found, the teen looked up and noticed broken branches up in the trees. It appeared that Toothless climbed up a tree and was jumping from branch to branch. Impressive. Only the most nimble of dragons could do that. Fortunately, Gri had tracked many Nadders in such a way before.

Greenleaf followed the trail of broken branches, and piles of freshly fallen leaves, still green. Toothless was good. Especially in the dark, it was very difficult to spot the claw marks on the trunk, or irregular broken vines. But Gri managed.

Eventually, the tree marks stopped, and a deep indentation showed where Toothless jumped down and landed on the floor. Now there were tracks, but even these were faint and hard to follow. This really was the king of disguise and the night.

The sound of a trickling brook filled Gri's ears. He was now positive that he was getting close. If Toothless would stop anywhere, it would be by a source of water.

Greenleaf came out into a clearing, revealing a small stream that flowed merrily along, as well as the occasional jumping fish. One section of the stream had upturned rocks and irregular indentations on the banks. It looked like Toothless decided to jump in. On the other side, tracks showed that the dragon traveled downstream. Gri followed them, not bothering to cross unless he needed to.

Gri had only been walking for five minutes before he spotted a black lump sitting on the opposite side of the brook. The frame was moving up and down in a silent course of intake and exhale. Toothless was asleep. But probably for not much longer.

Gri was right. He could be silent if he wantwd to be, but he knew it best to wake a Night Fury from a distance rather than up close. He stepped on a twig, causing Toothless to wake. Then he called out. "Told ya I'd find you!"

Toothless turned and growled at Gri. "You stupid hatchling. I think I'll eat you now."

"You and I both know that you hate the taste of humans. Besides, I brought you some fish!"

"Fish?" Toothless questioned, almost like a dog. "You have fish? Where is this fish?"

Gri laughed and pulled it out. He only had a few, as not many could fit in his bag, but it was better than nothing.

Toothless waded across the stream and eyed the offered fish warily. "You are a human. You must have a weapon of some sort," he accused.

"None," Gri assured him, "All I have is fish and medician." He emphasized the 'fish' part.

"How can I trust you?"

"If you couldn't, would I really be able to take you down?"

"True enough. Give me the fish," Toothless ordered. Gri rolled his eyes and tossed them to the black beast. Dragons could be so rude sometimes.

"Oh, and I don't want a return gift," Gri told him.

Toothless was gobbling down the last one when he said this, and looked at Gri curiously. "But Clawless, it is customary."

"Yeah, well a human raised with dragons doesn't really go by custom. And though I understand the significance, I don't like regurgitated fish. To me, it is gross."

Toothless sighed. "Very well. You are a strange one. You should just pick one and stick with it. Either you are human or you are dragon."

"It's not that simple."

"It should be. Now, why are you here Clawless?"

Gri frowned at the name but replied, "I have medicine, for your tail."

Toothless growled. "How do I know it is ot poison or something of the sort?"

"I. Grew. Up. With. Dragons," Gri said very slowly, "Why would I want to hurt you, the most rare creature on earth?"

Toothless had no reply, for he growled and motioned Gri forward. He layed down on the ground and brought his tail around, wincing a bit.

Greenleaf smiled and kneeled beside the tail. Out of his bag, he pulled out his medicine, which was really just herbs he had collected earlier and bandages he found in the house. "Hold still. This will hurt."

"Night Furies feel no pain," Toothless grumbled back.

"Sure you don't," Gri said with a roll of his eyes. He ground up the herbs in a bowl he brought as he observed the wound. It was a bit dirty, and very bloody, and should be cleaned first. "Put your tail in the water," he ordered. Toothless grumbled but obeyed. Gri tore the bandage in half, using one to carefully cleanse the wound. Toothless moaned.

"You are an evil, clawless being," the dragon growled.

"Yep, and proud!" Gri replied and he washed the blood and dirt caked at the puncture. Then he noticed the rather thick stick lodged in the skin. Whether Toothless got it before or after the crash, Gri didn't know. But it had to come out. "Oookay, slight problem. There is a small big stick stuck in your tail and I'm gonna have to take it out. This will hurt." No use in lying.

"Small big stick?" Toothless questioned.

"Shush." Gru said no more as he carefully grabbed the sticked and gave it a tug. Toothless shrieked. "Sorry!" he apologized once he had calmed down. "Okay, I can do this two ways: slow and meticulous, or quick and easy."

"Which will hurt more!" Toothless all but whimpered.

"Well, going slow will hurt less but for a longer time. Doing it quick will be good, because you don't have a chance to feel the pain until afterwards, and then it fades quickly."

"Okay, do it quickly. And count," Toothless decided.

"No, counting will make it worse. You might move right before and anticipation builds up. You should close your eyes and relax."

"How can I relax?" Toothless demanded.

"Just try. Close your eyes." Toothless did so as Gri submerged the tail completely. The cool water soothed the pain, and soon the dragon looked close to snoring. Gri chose then to pull the stick out.

Toothless's eyes shot open and he let out a howl. The only reason why he didn't move was because he was afraid of even looking at his tail. "You horrid, evil, vile, clawless, hair-top, two-legged, flat face..." Toothless went on to insult Gri until the pain and his temper died down, and he was left a shivering mess.

"The stick is out," Gri said bluntly.

Toothless glared at him and replied, "No dur. No make the pain go away!"

Gru was tempted to make a comment how, 'Night Furies don't feel pain,' but he thought better of it and grabbed his ground herbs. "This will soothe the pain," Gri assured him. He gently lifted the tail out of the water and placed it on the bank. Then he took some of the herbs and rubbed it gently against the wound. A sigh escaped Toothless, and he crooned in delight. Gri grinned and slathered the rest on. He then systematically wrapped the entire tail in what remained of the bandages. "I'll have to change the wrappings and the herbs in a couple days," Gri mused.

Toothless was silent for a while before saying slowly, as if he wasn't completely sure on his decision, "This spot isn't very safe or defendable. There is a cove near here, that is good. Should I show it to you?"

"No I've seen it flying overhead," Gri replied. He was silent for a while before saying, in almost a whisper, "You want me to come back?"

"Just to fix my tail!" Toothless snapped. "And you better bring me fish!"

"Of course. Wouldn't dream of not bringing you fish. But I can probably only come at night."

"That is fine. I can sleep during the day. Don't leave me, Clawless," Toothless warned, "Once in that cove, I can't get out without flying."

"Don't worry. You can trust me," Gri assured him.

"Very well. I'll see you tomorrow night then, Clawless."

"And you too, Toothless," Gri returned.

The dragon turned and began to leap through the forest with the elegance of a gazelle, nearly silent in his run, and not looking back. Gri smiled and shook his head. Now time to get back, before he was missed...again.

* * *

**If you think that was over exaggerated, then just think of how much it hurts to simply pull out one splinter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone. Sorry for the slightly long wait. I started school last week and things have been hectic.**

**Dear Two-legger: don't worry, you didn't offend me! And I didn't even think of all those other dragons that have either two or less legs. Oh well.**

* * *

Chapter 11

"Sand," Dagna said, holding up the little yellow grains for Gri to see. They were on the beach, alone, and practicing more Norse.

"Sand," Gri repeated, then clicked his tongue and said, "RshWirrrr!" This was the dragonese word for sand.

Dagna giggled and struggled to copy, but came out more as a, "RushWoor!" She shook her head and said in Norse, "Whatever language you speak, it's really hard!"

"Flss ickh (whistle) rnkkaou (click, click) psqinx (squawk)," Gri told her, then translated, "Beach is where ocean is."

Dagna srunched up her nose and tried, but failed rather miserably. "Flis ick (whistle) runkau (click) ps...psqu...ah, I give up.

Gri shook his head. "No. No give up. Not good."

"Well you certainly have the Haddock stubbornness," Dagna said with a smile. Gri cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Oh. Well...stubbornness is long for stubborn. And stubborn means that you don't let up, or change your mind. Like...never giving up!"

Gri understood most of what she said. "Stubborn his good," he decided.

"Well, not exactly. I guess it can be, but it can also be not good," Dagna tried to explain. But language wasn't really any Viking's specialty.

Gri gave a rueful smile and shrugged. Dagna knew that he meant to apologize for not being able to understand. She had become rather good at reading Gri's expressions and faces, partly because they were so similar to her own.

"You don't need to apologize. S'not your fault."

Gri shrugged again and bent down to pickup a shell. "Clkkvrrrrp," he said and looked up.

"Shell," Dagna translated.

"Shell," Gri repeated, "Shells are at beach. Sands are at beach."

"Close. You don't put an 's' after sand. You don't make it plural," Dagna explained. At Gri's confused expression, she said, "Shells are at the beach. SanD is at the beach."

Gri nodded. "Understand," he said.

Dagna smiled. She snatched Gri's hand up and tugged him toward the cliff. She pointed up at it and said, "Cliff."

Gri looked up and repeated, "Cliff." He placed his hand on the rocky wall and said proudly, "Rocks on cliff."

Dagna laughed and started to reply, when she was cut off by a loud, "Hey!" The pair turned to see Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins heading over. It was Snotlout who had called.

"What?" Dagna asked.

"Snotlout claims he has something to show us," Fishlegs replied.

"Yeah. He said it was really cool!" Tuffnut agreed excitedly.

"IF he's telling the truth," Astrid argued, "He won't even tell us what it is he found."

"That's cause it's a surprise! And Gri has to come too," Snotlout explained, "I found a nest of dragons on this island!"

"So much for the surprise," Astrid muttered while Dagna's eyes got wide.

"Really! You did? Can I come?" She asked excitedly.

"Nope. A dragon nest is no place for little girls!"

"I'm not a little girl. I could take you any day!" Dagna challenged him.

"Well you can't come and that's that. If the Chief found out, he'd have my head," Snotlout decided. Then he threw his arms around Gri and Astrid and started to lead them away. "Let's find us a dragon!" he exclaimed. Astrid, disgusted, slipped out from under his arm and went to talk to Ruffnut. "She just can't resist me!" Snotlout whispered to Gri.

Greenleaf was very confused, but the situation didn't look good. They found dragons? If so, then they probably plan on hurting them. Gri couldn't let that happen.

Snotlout eventually broke away and took the lead, weaving first through the village and then through the forest. Gri was more and more anxious with every step.

"Are we there yet?" Ruffnut complained.

"Almost," Snotlout informed her.

They walked on for another ten minutes when Astrid spoke up. "Snotlout, this is stupid. You're probably just leading us in circles. I'm going back."

"No, Astrid I swear we're almost there," Snotlout said urgently. Asteid sighed and waved her hand for him to continue.

They soon started hearing the squawks and growls of dragons. To Gri, it was conversation. He heard snippets of conversations, mixing in with each other. "...and the queen is getting angrier and angrier...just had to get away...just in time for my little gems to hatch!..Flyrr, don't flame your sister." However, to the others, the dragon noises meant danger.

"Get down," Snotlout whispered as he got low to the ground and snuck closer. They climbed up a small incline, and peaked over the top. In a large clearing below, a small nest that consisted of Nadders, Terrors, and Hotburples sat in peace.

"So whadda we do now?" Tuffnut asked.

"We could pick off one of the babies," Ruffnut replied.

"But then that would alert the mother and an angry dragon mother is not something you want to be up against," Fishlegs said quickly, clearly nervous.

"We could get the Chief and raid it," Astrid said.

"But I found it! We should raid it!" Snotlout whispered back.

"I've only taken on two dragons at a time," Astrid replied, a bit boastful, "And we would all have to take on at least three or four at once, not including the babies."

"How 'bout we just go..." Fishlegs twittered nervously.

"We can't just go!" Snotlout argued.

"We don't have much of a choice," Astrid sighed in defeat.

"But then we can't kill dragons," Ruffnut sighed in regret.

"I go," Gri said simply. He stood and walked away, ignoring everyone staring at him.

"Gri, come back!" Snotlout whispered as loud as he dared.

Gri turned and said, "Live. Not die. Stupid to attack." With that, he returned, and the others followed, as they had nothing to argue. Silently, Gri sighed in relief. Crisis averted.

* * *

Gri snuck out that night. It had been two days since he had seen Toothless, so now it was time to return. Gri packed new bandages and herbs, and had a whole basket full of fish. When the village and the house was a silent as the night itself, Gri slipped out through his window and expertly climbed to the ground. Then he made for the cove...


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello Peeps. I know the last chapter is kinda dry, and I'm sorry for that. I'm having horrible writer's block. It's still lingering, so hopefully this chapter won't suck.**

* * *

Chapter 12

Gri slowly made his way to the cove, careful to not be followed. He doubted anyone would be, but it was always best to be cautious.

Gri climbed down into the circular prison, wishing he could glide down but could not due to the heavy load of fish he carried.

At the bottom, Gri stepped into the clearing and looked around. He couldn't see much. "Toothless?" he called.

"About time," a voice growled to his left. He turned to see a black shape sitting atop a large rock. Two green orbs appeared and settled themselves on the human.

Gri held up his pack and said, "I got fish!"

Toothless needed no other incentive. He hoped down and came up to him, nose sniffing and once narrow eyes round and cute. "Gimme!" he purred and let his tongue hang out.

Gri refrained from laughing and said, "First, bring your tail to the water. I'll clean it while you eat." Toothless obeyed and layed himself by the water. Then he looked up at Gri expectantly. He obliged and dropped his bag of fish before going around to look at the tail. "Has it been hurting much?" Gri asked as he sat down on the bank of the water next to the tail fin.

"-Mph, not too much," Toothless replied over a mouthful. Gri nodded and carefully turned the fin to look all around it. "Clawless, will this hurt as much as last time?"

If Gri wasn't fearful of getting burned to a crisp, he would've commented on the fear he heard. Instead, he replied, "It shouldn't. Last time there was a stick stuck in your fin. So unless you got another one, it will be fine." Toothless sighed and continued to eat his fish.

Gri rolled his eyes -why, he wasn't sure- and examined the fin. The once white bandages were now dirt brown, and -though it was hard to see in the darkness- it looked like there was dried blood, meaning it had reopened sometime in the last two days.

Gri carefully unwrapped the old bandages and lifted the tail into the water. He slowly washed the wound, darkening the once crystal lake. Once done, he replaced the fin on the bank. Gri sighed. "I can't see," he commented, "Could you-"

Toothless turned his head around and shot a small plasma blast right next to Gri, making a small flame that quickly died down. Fortunately, it left behind a couple glowing coals that would work well enough.

"Thanks," Gri said and began observing the wound. It had scabbed over, but in some areas it was open and oozing pus. Gri grimanced. He almost wished he couldn't see. "Oooookay, slight problem. Not big. I just have to drain this pus. Not too hard, just really gross..." Gri was mumbling more to himself now.

"Will it hurt?" was all Toothless asked.

"A little. I'll have to apply pressure." Toothless sighed and nodded. Gri nodded in return and slowly put the tail so that it was partly in the water. Then he pulled out his herbs and crushed some of them up, but not as much as the time before, so that it was more of a glob rather than a paste. Gri rubbed the mixture over the infected areas, and slowly applied pressure. Gross, smelly pus oozed out, making a ghastly mess. Gri struggled not to dislodge his dinner when he cleaned it off with his hands. After, he repeated the process, draining a bit more pus and then washing it off. Fortunately, there wasn't too much, and it only took about ten minutes for the pus to be all gone.

Gri sighed and rinsed off his hands. He was not going to do that again. Not now, not ever. It was just too gross. And Toothless kept moaning as well. It got really annoying after the first three minutes.

Gri pulled out the tail and was pleased to find it looking significantly better. It still looked in danger of infection, but Gri could fix that. With the rest of his herbs, he recreated the paste from two nights ago and slathered it on before using the new bandages to rewrap it. Once done, he leaned back and wiped his hand clean.

"All done?" Toothless asked.

"All done," Gri agreed, "But don't do anything physical. It's in danger of getting infected, so you have to make sure no dirt gets in. I'll come back tomorrow night to check on it. The bandages better not be brown again."

Toothless growled but nodded his head. "Very well. And you better not forget my fish."

"Of course not," Gri replied with a smile.

"I mean it Clawless. With these bandages, I cannot go in the water. And catching fish on the shore is so pitifully difficult. I don't know how you humans do it."

"I don't know either," Gri admitted. He stood and gathered his things. As he walked away, he turned and gave a small wave. Toothless seemed to roll his eyes and turn away to get back to his rest. Gri sighed and left. This dragon was a tough one.

* * *

Gri groaned as he got up. His little endeavor the night before took quite a while out of the night, and now he was paying for it.

A knock on his door told him to get up. With another groan, he slowly dragged himself up and stumbled to the door. He opened it slowly, yawning and rubbing his eyes. It was Valka.

The woman gave a terse smile and said, "Good morning Hi -uhhh, Gri! I made breakfast. I thought it would be good to have a meal with just the family...the whole family."

Gri stared at her for a moment before deciding that nodding would be the best course of action. He followed her downstairs and found Stoick sitting at the head of the table, with Dagna on one side. Valka sat across Stoick and Gri followed suite and sat across from Dagna. The next forty minutes were the most awkward of their lives.

Valka tried to keep up a conversation, but it was very difficult. Stoick looked like he would rather be doing something else, and Gri barely knew what was going on. Dagna looked like she was enjoying the little show immensely. Eventually, Stoick started asking Gri about dragons.

"So you're saying not all dragons attack you unless you get too close or something?" Stoick asked.

Gri took a couple seconds to translate it out, then answered simply, "Yes." He wanted to say that dragons could actually be good, but he thought Stoick wasn't ready to hear that yet.

"And there's either a queen or a king?"

"Yes," Gri answered again.

"So if we kill the king or queen, the war will be over?"

Gri sighed. "Not so simple," he replied, "Yes, but queen is big. King is bigger. Very...strong?"

"Powerful?" Dagna offered.

Gri nodded. He knew what power meant, and could guess what powerful was. "Yes. Very powerful. Hard to...kill." The word tasted sour on Gri's tongue.

"But if we could end it..."

Gri sighed. He had been doing a lot of that lately. Slowly, he explained, "If queen, small chance. If king, no chance. Not with no different king." That last sentence was shaky at best and Gri knew it. He turned to Dagna for help.

"He means that you can't defeat a king dragon without another king dragon," she explained.

"Where in Odin's name can we find one of those?" Stoick growled, "And even if we could, no dragon would help a human. The beasts only think for themselves."

Gri growled under his breath and gripped his hand on the edge of his seat. One more comment like that and he was going to lose it. It was fortunate that he didn't understand what 'beasts' meant.

* * *

**The good news is I think my writer's block is gone! The other good news is that next chapter will be an exciting one! Stay tuned Peeps!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the delay. I couldn't get to this for a while, and then when I did have time, I forgot what the chapter was supposed to be about. But here ya go Peeps!**

* * *

Chapter 13

Light peeked over the dull horizon, signaling the wake up of many Vikings. One however, was already up. Up and pacing about a small room, empty other than herself. Worry was etched on her young features, and her eyes kept darting to the window and door, as if she was almost begging for someone to come through it. And this was true. Because Gri was not in his room, and Dagna was majorly concerned. Don't take her to be paranoid. she had, in fact, simply brushed the disappearance of Gri as nothing, thinking he probably had gone for a walk or something. But that had been nearly an hour ago. Why had Dagna been in his room an hour before nornal people woke? Her answer was a simple one, and very innocent: she had just wanted to take Gri to her favorite spot to see the sunrise. It was a ways, however, so Dagna had decided to wake Gri extra early to get there on time. But he wasn't there. She sat and waited. He didn't show. She started to tap her fingers nervously. He still didn't come back. She began to pace in agitated circles. Gri still wouldn't open that damn door and explain why he was gone for an hour! Dagna was beginning to fear that maybe he had left to return to his...other family. Until, finally, he came back.

Dagna had finally resigned and was about to tell her parents. But then the window behind her clicked and creaked open. No other sound was heard, but windows didn't just open on there own. She wirled around to see darkly clad Gri climb like a shadow into the room. When he landed with a soundless thump on the floor, Dagna crossed her arms and glared at him with all her might. To add effect, she coughed.

Gri jerked his head up, but didn't jump. He looked at her in surprise, and slowly stood to his full height. "Uhhh...why you here?" he asked.

"Were have you been?!" Dagna demanded, ignoring his question.

"Uhhhh, walking," Gri replied.

"For an hour?!"

"Yes?" Gri said meekly. He had never seen Dagna angry before. It was a scary sight.

"You will explain yourself right now!" Dagna shouted again. It only then occured to her that she might wake her parents. But Stoick slept like a rock and Valka probably couldn't hear a thing over the snoring, so Dagna brushed it off.

"Walking," Gri said again.

Dagna glared so hard that he cringed. Gri sighed in defeat and said, "Fine. Show you tonight, if promise not to tell."

Dagna suddenly softened and replied, "I promise. But why do we have to go at night?"

"We do,' Gri answered, not fully understanding the question. Dagna sighed and nodded her head in acceptence. Tonight then.

* * *

The rest of the day was torture for Dagna. She watched Gri with a Hawk's eyes, trying to find any hint at what he was going to show her. But she got nothing. It was very frustrating.

At breakfast, Gri ate his mushy meal, awkward as always (he never holds the spoon right). He then went off with the other teens and had races climbing up the cliff. Dagna watched from a distance as Gri won every time. Even though he wasn't the strongest, he was certainly the most agile and crawled up the cliffs like he had done it his whole life. Later, when they arm wrestled, however, Gri lost pitifully every single time. Snotlout had taken to teasing him about it. Until they started to do swimming races, where Gri also always won. The way he cut through the water was so foreign and strange, almost as if he was some sort of underwater creature. And he did it all with those wing-like things still spread out!

In all of this, Dagna got no clue as to what Gri had been up to the night before. He seemed to be completely normal, not anxious or worried at all. In fact, he actually winked at her during lunch when he caught her eye! As if he knew exactly what she was thinking! Dagna could only glare in return. He was really starting to annoy her.

On the flip-side, Gri was having so much fun. When he caught Dagna watching him, he purposely made himself look at perfect ease, without a concern at all. Whenever he managed to catch her eye, he would give her a knowing smirk or wink and pretend to not be afraid at all of those terrifying glares of hers. For the first time in his life, Gri found the great joys of having a little sister, one of which is teasing her to death. And it seemed so natural, so perfectly easy, that whoever was in charge of big brothership cards had officially given Gri one. You're never really a big brother until you manage to annoy your sister into wanting to murder you.

And Dagna had officially gotten her little sistership card. To truly be a little sister, you have to hate his guts with all of your being and glare him down until he cringes. And when he teases you, you let him know it got to you, so that you can also let him know that you will do his makeup while he sleeps and paint his nails pink. Or, in Dagna's case, do Gri's hair and maybe force him into a dress since Vikings didn't exactly have makeup and nail polish.

For all the I-want-to-destroy-you hate built up between the two siblings, they were actually closer than ever. They just didn't know it yet.

* * *

Finally, night had fallen. Dagna was more than ready to go. To Gri, she seemed to pop out of nowhere the moment the sun was below the horizon and demand they get going. Gri refused. Everyone needed to go to bed first. After this news, Dagna calmly walked to a nearby tree and started hitting it with a large stick she found on the ground. Gri felt bad for the tree. And the stick.

Dagna had to wait another four hours. She should've realized that. The sun went down at 7, and the village didn't fall alseep until 11. Sometimes later. But all Vikings rose the moment the sun spilled over the earth and all of them loved their sleep so most went to bed no later than 11.

When snores where the only sound that filled Berk, Dagna heard a quiet knock on her door. She immediately got up from her bed, fully clothed, and opened the door. She didn't waste time for pleasantries as she marched past Gri and walked ouside. Her brother followed, a small smirk on his face.

"So where are we going?" Dagna asked, half whispering.

Gri just smiled and said, "Follow." And she did. Into the forest for a long ways, and then to the left and bit, and now they were heading downwards on a slope. Dagna's curiosity was eating her alive. She was actually clawing at her hair, and tapping her hands against her thighs at her impatience. It was a Haddock trait, though Gri didn't seem to have inherited it.

Dagna almlst sighed in relief when the trees broke and they came out onto a small beach. Finally, the wait was over!...or not. Gri led her to the left of the beach, where a cliff stood tall. At the base of the cliff, a cave opened up.

Gri turned to look ay Dagna and said, "Have to be quiet, or will scare them." Dagna nodded, and followed Gri into the cave slowly. She gasped.

The enire cave was filled with a bright, crystal light. It reflected off the walls that seemed to have gems embedded in them, and bounced back onto the water that sat as a small pond at the bottom. Moving about in the water were dozens of little white lights that moved in and out of each other.

"They are fish," Gri explained in a whisper, "Glitter fish."

"They're beautiful," Dagna breathed.

"Only glow at night," Gri continued, "And in certain places. They like caves. Especially ones with reflections." He pointed at the gems that studded the ceiling and walls.

"Why did you make it such a big secret?" Dagna asked.

"It's special," Gri answered, "Only special sisters can see it."

Dagna smiled and turned. She grinned up at her big brother and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight hug. "You're awesome. I'm glad you're my brother, Gri."

Surprised, Gri slowly put his arms around Dagna and replied, "Glad you're my sister, Dagna...but no more evil stares. Very scary."

Dagna laughed out loud and the lights suddenly faded. The pair looked down at the pond as Dagna said, "Oops." Then they both burst out laughing.

* * *

**Ha! You should see the looks on your faces! You all thought Dagna was going to meet Toothless! Mwahahahaha! That was so much fun!**

**Anyways, this chapter actually makes me smile a lot. As you can see, Gri managed to avoid his dragon problem with Dagna, and now they really kinda accept each other as siblings, especially for Gri.**

**Also, you probably noticed how Gri has much improved on his Norse. Lets give him a hand!**

**So this wasn't what you guys were expecting, but did you still like it? I, for one, greatly enjoyed writing this chapter.**

**And, in case you were wondering, I have never painted my brother's nails pink before, but my friends have. And when writing the middle part, I basically just thought about how he and I act with each other. I love you big bro! Whoah, I'm starting to get a little sappy here. Not my thing. I'm just gonna go now, before it gets any weirder.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry if that was a long wait. The days are so blended I'm not even sure if this is a late chapter or not. In any case, enjoy the chapter! I really like this one.**

* * *

Chapter 14

Gri yawned as he climbed down into the cove to the awaiting Toothless. The dragon gave a soft growl at his arrival and asked angrily, "Where were you yesterday?"

"My little sister caught me coming back home last time and she demanded to know where I had been. So I took her to a cave full of glow fish. And I do need to sleep, ya know," Gri answered with another yawn. In the back of his mind, he noted how he referred to the Haddock house as 'home.'

"Whatever. Do you have my fish?" Gri rolled his eyes and dropped his bag of fish on the ground. Toothless eagerly sniffed at it and dug his head into it, slurping up the gooey mess.

Gri, meanwhile, gathered some twigs for a fire and started it with his Firebreather near the lake. He waited patiently until Toothless was done, before inspecting the wound again. He held the tail fin up to the light and pulled off the old bandages to reveal that the puncture had scabbed over quite nicely. Gri pulled it into the water to quickly clean, before re-wrapping it with new bandages. He didn't put on more herbs because it had completely closed now, and was out of the danger zone of getting infected.

"Well?" Toothless asked when Gri was done.

"It's healing very well. You'll probably be able to fly in about two weeks." Gri realized that two weeks was also around the time when Brit would be coming back.

"That is good. I hate being grounded. You have no idea what it's like, Clawless," Toothless grumbled.

"I kinda do. I can't fly like I used to. Usually, I would jump off my friend Brit's back, or my mother's, or another friend of mine."

Toothless eyed Gri and replied, "If I hadn't run into you while flying with that odd contraption, I wouldn't believe you actually could fly. How did you design it?"

"I based it off the wings of a Timberjack and a Nightmare," Gri explained, "I used measurements from the Nightmare to see how big I would need to make my wings and I used the design of a Timberjack to actually make it."

"Interesting. And that little tube of yours breaths fire. You are almost like a real dragon. But you still have no claws," Toothless scorned.

Gri rolled his eyes. "I can't exactly make claws for myseee- wait, maybe I can!" Gri got really excited as a new idea hit him. "I think I can make myself claws! I'll just need to learn how to use that thing they call a 'forge.' I'll have to draw up some blueprints, and get the design together, and maybe..." Gri was talking to himself now, and it was annoying Toothless.

"If you're going to rant, don't do it here," the dragon complained.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Gri replied as he raised his arms in surrender. He gathered his things and made to leave, still muttering to himself. Just before he excited the cove, he turned and said, "Seeya Toothless!" Then he raced off for the Haddock house.

* * *

**One Week Later**

Gri was tired. He had been spending almost every night with Toothless for the past week, and it was taking a toll on him. So, instead of hanging with the teens or Dagna, he went to Berk's library. It was a meager place, as most Vikings couldn't or didn't care to read. But Gri liked it, and pulled all sorts of books off the dusty shelves.

Today, he was pouring over a volume that discussed the geography of the Archipelago. He wasn't actually reading it, only looking at the pictures; he could speak and understand Norse almost fluently now, but he certainly couldn't read.

While Gri stared at the faded pictures, he heard the soft padding of feet behind him. Then a cool hand was on his shoulder. It was Valka. She peered over his shoulder and smiled at his book. With a delicate finger, she pointed at one island and said, "That's us. Berk. Next to us is the Meathead tribe. A little farther down and you get to the Isles of the Scorchers. And here is where Scotland is. We had a brutal war with them about thirty years ago. They won, but only just. Many died that day, from both sides."

"Why did you fight," Gri asked, "if so many were to die?"

"We...didn't agree on certain things. Us Vikings wanted more land and the Scottish wanted us to swear fealty to their king," Valka explained sadly. "But Scotland was very beautiful."

Gri looked up at the window in the corner and said, "Berk is beautiful."

Valka smiled. "Yes. Yes, it is." He smile suddenly grew as she said, "Come! I want to show you something!" She took him by the hand and pulled him away. Gri laughed despite himself, curiosity getting the better of him.

Valka led him north of Berk, until they came to a kind of crevice in the side of a tall mountain. Caves opened up in the narrow space, giving the place an ominous look. Valka had Gri stand in front of the mouth of one cave before running to the opening of another several feet away. She smiled and then leaned into the cave, shouting, "Hello!"

Gri heard her say it from where she stood, but a couple seconds later, he heard it echo from his cave. He jumped in surprise before a grin spread across his face. He leaned into his own cave and shouted back, "Hello! How? Why? This is amazing!" He quickly ran next to Valka and made it just as he heard his voice echo from the dark tunnel.

Valka laughed and said, "The cave wraps around. It's all one tunnel. Because of this, it echoes."

"That is so cold!" Gri shouted in glee.

Valka looked at him strangely. "Cold? Do you mean cool? Where did you hear that word being used that way?"

"Snotlout, says it a lot," Gri explained, "I don't know why they would call something amazing 'cool,' but I wanted to use it."

Valka laughed. "I really don't know why either," she agreed, "But come! I have more to show you!" She led him away from the mountain to a high cliff where the wind roared and dominated. Valka gave Gri a wink before jumping off the edge. Alarmed, Gri ran over and searched for the crazy woman, and was surprised to find her floating merrily on a strong updraft. Gri stared amazed for a moment before jumping as well. Hot air hit him, and caught his fall, slowly bringing him back up. He came side-to-side with Valka and laughed. Then he spread his arms completely and let the air catch his wings, bringing up further. He moved out of the draft and glided back down to the cliff where Valka was waiting.

"Amazing!" he said, "Why? How? It's impossible! But it isn't impossible!"

Valka laughed. "There are two reasons why: the first is the updraft. The wind is blowing so hard that when it hits the cliff it flows upward.* But that's only part of it. The main reason why it can hold us up is because there is a hot springs beneath the surface and it's creating a lot of hot air."

"Amazing!" Gri said again. With a grin, he jumped over the ledge for another go. Valka laughed and joined him.

The next hour was a combination of gliding and flying, jumping and floating. Until Valka wanted to show Gri another thing. She led him into the forest until a small clearing could be seen up ahead. She motioned for him to be silent before sneaking up like a shadow, Gri following closely behind. Once in the center of the clearing, Valka slowly picked two sticks up off the ground and banged them together loudly. Suddenly, all the leaves and flowers and even some of the bark of the trees erupted in a shower of wings, revealing the once camouflaged butterflies. There were hundreds of them, and they all swirled around the pair in a beautiful array of colors and textures, some looking like leaves or flowers or sticks or dirt. Some were large, some were no bigger than a thumbnail. A couple even landed on Gri and Valka before taking off again.

Gri laughed as they disappeared into the sky, nothing more than a colorful cloud. Valka smiled as well as she explained, "I don't know why they like it here, but almost every day they come and settle. They're almost impossible to see when camouflaged."

"Wow," Gri whispered as he watched the now faint speck in the sky that signaled the swarm of retreating butterflies. Suddenly, his stomach grumbled very loudly. He blushed and looked up at a laughing Valka.

"Let's get some lunch!" she cried in glee, and led him through the forest. She bounded through the trees like an elegant deer, and Gri had no problem keeping up. Years of living with dragons had made him quick and agile.

They came to a seemingly dead end of an eight foot wall of rock before Valka found impossible notches to use to climb, some so tiny she shouldn't have been able to grasp them. At the top, she turned to help Gri up only to find that he climbed it with ease as well. He pulled himself up next to and smirked at her surprised face. But it quickly turned back to joy as she turned and sighed at the mass of trees before her. Every single one of them bore some kind of fruit. And Gri tried all of them.

Most of the fruits were fairly common, but they were still foreign to Greenleaf. He had only tried peaches and apples before, because there happened to be a couple of those kind of trees growing at his nest. Everything was a new experience. He caused Valka to start snorting when he tried to eat an orange without peeling it.

Lunch took a whole two hours because Gri wanted to learn the name of every single fruit. Valka patiently explained each one to him, much to his delight. When they got to lemons, Valka had to start snorting again at the face Gri made when he bit into it. He didn't expect it to be sour! At first, he glared playfully at the woman, but soon a grin broke out on his face as he started laughing as well. Valka couldn't wait until they reached the kumquats. Not only was it sour, but she wanted to watch Gri pronounce the name!

Twenty minutes later, Valka wasn't disappointed. Gri screwed up his face when told the name, and said slowly, "Comcuat."

Valka shook her head and replied, "No, no, no. KUm-QUat."

"KUm-CUat," Gri tried.

Valka sighed. "Those Qs are a nasty bit," she commented.

"Kum-QUAt," Gri tried one last time.

"That's it!" Valka encouraged.

Gri smiled an puffed out his chest in a ridiculous manner. With sarcastic pride dripping from his voice, he said proudly, "I, Greenleaf, can pronounce kum-QUAT!"

Valka doubled over in laughter and added, "And I, Valka Haddock, have trained thee well! Go into the world and teach all you meet how to pronounce 'kumquat!'"

The two laughed until it died down into comfortable smiles. Valka let out a breath and ran her fingers through her son's hair, bringing it to rest against his cheek. To Gri's surprise, he leaned into her touch and sighed in contentment. "You've grown so much," she whispered, "My little Hi- Gri," she corrected.

Gri brought his hand up to clasp Valka's, and said slowly, "You...you can call me Hiccup."

Valka's eyes brightened as she said eagerly, "Really? You'd be okay with that?"

"Yes. But...just you. No one else."

If anything, that statement made Valka all the happier as she said softly, "Thank-you." She gently kissed him on his forehead and added, "Thank-you Hiccup. I love you."

Gri hesitated before replying, "I love you too...Mom."

* * *

That night, Toothless could tell something was wrong. Gri came into the cove, dropped the fish and immediately began inspecting his tail-fin. Once he finished washing and re-wrapping it, he quietly gave the new progress to Toothless and turned to go. The dragon sighed at what he was about to do and then said, "Stop. What is wrong?"

Gri turned slowly and replied, "Nothing is wrong."

"Don't play fool with me, Clawless. It is clear that something is bothering you. Now tell me, what is wrong?"

"Why do you care?" It came out harsher than intended. But Gri wanted to know all the same. As far as he could tell, Toothless couldn't care less about his well-being.

Toothless himself was a little offended by the statement. Until he realized it was a perfectly reasonable question. Why did he care? This was a human, a very dragon-like human, but a human nonetheless. He didn't care for humans. And even if he did, he couldn't show it. Night Furies showed no emotion, from joy to pain to love to anger...right? Toothless really had no idea how a Night Fury was supposed to act. He had none others to copy after.

After a long pause, Toothless finally answered Gri's question. "I care because I should. I know I am a Night Fury, but you have saved me by fixing my tail. If you hadn't I would've surely died. And, because no matter how annoying you get, you are just so stupidly likable!"

"Stupidly likable?"

"Yes! Out of all the humans and dragons I have met combined, you are by far the most decent. It's like...you have the best of both worlds. Now go on and tell me what's wrong before I change my mind and decide that you are too annoying."

Gri sighed and sat down on a rock. "You know, my mother once said something like that. That I have the best of both worlds. She said something like I had the heart of a human and the soul of a dragon- or maybe it was the other way around. My mother said that. Cloudjumper. But she's not my mother. The woman called Valka is. Three weeks ago, I would never even imagine calling that woman my mother. But...she is, and I love her like one. But I love Cloudjumper like a mother as well. And Dagna, my little sister. Before, she was just someone who I shared blood with. But now...she's my sister! I don't get it! What am I? Who do I love?"

Toothless was silent for a long while. Finally, he said, "I am not the wisest being nor am I the oldest. But I think I understand now. Remember when I said that you should just pick being a dragon or a human, and stick with it?"

"Yes."

"And you replied that it wasn't that simple. And it's not. You cannot be one. Because you are both. You love Cloudjumper, but you love this Valka woman as well. Both are your mother. And this girl, Dagna. She is your little sister. And that friend of yours, Brit. She is still your friend. You love both."

"So what am I then?" Gri asked.

Toothless sighed. "Let me tell you something Clawless. I have no idea how a Night Fury is supposed to act. I was raised by a kind Gronckle and Deadly Nadder. They told me everything they knew about my species, but it was very little. And when I asked others, they all seemed to give me different answers. I know what I am, but that doesn't mean I know how I am supposed to be."

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning, you are Clawless. And you are Greenleaf. And you are Hiccup. And it is okay to not know exactly what that means," Toothless explained.

Gri sighed and thought for a moment before saying, "Why do I get the feeling you're just stringing deep-sounding words together?"

"Partly because I am. But that doesn't make false."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it true either," Gri grumbled.

Toothless slapped him with his tail and growled. "Take it or leave it Clawless boy. It's the best you're gonna get."

Gri rolled his eyes but smiled gratefully at the Night Fury. "Thanks Toothless. I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah, now run along. You need sleep and I need to tone down the emotions."

Gri gave a soft laugh before gathering his things and rising. As he turned to go, he said softly, "'Night Toothless. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow too Clawless. Don't get yourself killed." With that, Gri left, feeling significantly better than when he came.

* * *

***This is actually a real thing. It happens at the Empire State Building. It isn't strong enough to catch a person, but if you drop a penny off it, it will most likely not reach the ground. Oh, and even though I know something like this happens, I don't know all the science of it. I just know it does, so gimme a break if you're some techno genius and what I said was pathetically wrong as to why.**

**Okay! Long chapter. I've been looking forward to this one. Not exactly how it turned out in my head, but I'm content all the same. Gri has now bonded with Dagna, Toothless, and Valka. I'm also excited for the next chapter. I won't give away any spoilers, but basically, Snotlout gets his *ahem* ass handed to him.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the long wait. First my computer wouldn't turn on, then I got Blood of Olympus and had to read that, like, right away, and then I had to do homework that I procrastinated on.**

* * *

Chapter 15

Greenleaf sat with the other teens at breakfast since he hadn't spent time with them for a while. However, now that Gri had been here for three weeks, he had mostly been blended with everyday life, and the teens no longer stared at him and asked him constant questions. Today, they acted how Gri assumed they normally acted at meals, which was a little unfortunate. It consisted of more laughing than eating, and more than a couple mini food fights. The twins even started some real fights. Despite the loud jokes and laughter of his companions, Gri could not enjoy it. Snotlout, the loudest, had very crude langue, most of which he had never heard before, and his jokes were obnoxious and confusing. Honestly, what was so funny about a yak yakking up their meal?

Gri mostly stayed out of the conversation, as did Astrid. She did occasionally laugh or add her own comments, but she mostly found Snotlout just as annoying as Gri did. Fishlegs was fairly silent as well, but he was surprising with some of the things he said.

Snotlout started boasting about his strength and overall awesomeness. He claimed that he was unbeatable, and no 'dragon-scum' could stop him! _He _was the one who figured out who Gri was, _he _was the one who took down a wild Nadder all by himself, and _he _was the only one daring enough to venture into the forest and stay there for a whole week. Gri didn't care how he 'survived the forest,' but he was angered by all the comments he made about dragons. With each new insult, Gri gripped the table harder until his knuckles were white. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Prove it," Gri spoke up. All heads turned to him.

"Prove what?" Snotlout asked.

"Prove how great you are," Gri challenged.

"Uhhh, how?"

"You could fight Astrid!" Tuffnut provided.

"Astrid always beats him, dummy," his sister replied.

"Exactly! She kicks his butt! It's funny!" Tuffnut explained.

"Oh yeah...he can fight Astrid!" Ruffnut agreed.

Astrid casually fiddled with the edge of her ax and looked up at Snotlout with mocking eyes. He shifted in his seat and said, "Uhhh..." Fighting Astrid _hurt. _He always had tons of bruises afterwards.

"Fight me," Gri offered. Once again, every head turned towards him. None of them had seen him fight, so they had no idea if he was good or not. But they mostly leaned towards 'not' since he wasn't exactly the largest Viking. Sure, he was a bit taller than Snotlout, but he was rather skinny*.

Snotlout decided that he liked his chances and replied, "Alright. After breakfast we'll go to the training arena." Gri nodded in agreement.

* * *

Gri wanted to puke. They hadn't even started the fight yet, but he still felt like he was going to be sick. But it had nothing to do with the fight. As soon as they got close to the training arena, he could hear the cries of multiple trapped dragons. Some were moaning, and some were yelling angrily. He heard things like:

_"Stupid two-leggers. They dare trap a dragon such as myself?!"_

_"Please, just let it stop!"_

_"Why do we even have to fight them? All I want is someone to scratch my belly. Stupid queen..."_

_*Gasp!* "Don't dare talk about the queen in such a way!"_

_"She can't hear us."_

_"But what if she can? As soon as we get out we'll be punished for sure!"_

Gri had to pull away from the conversations when Snotlout asked, "What weapon do you want to use?"

"Uhh...I have a knife. But I'll just use my hands," Gri decided. He had found the knife on a ship-wreck, and had decided it could come in handy. But he had never really had any proper training with it. He mostly kept it hidden in his boot in case it was ever needed.

Snotlout laughed. "Just your hands? Well I'm gonna use my hammer! Snotlout! Snotlout! Oy, oy ,oy!"

"Don't kill him," Astrid muttered.

"I won't," Gri assured her.

"Oh...I meant- never mind."

Fishlegs acted as referee. He stood them about five feet apart and said, "Go!" without any forewarning.

Snotlout immediately charged *Gri, hammer raised. His cousin easily dove to the side and rolled before spinning around and leaping to his feet. Snotlout barreled past him for several feet before managing to stop. He turned and charged again. This time, Gri jumped almost towards Snotlout, only a little to the left so that he was right behind him. On the ground, Gri pushed off with his hands and sent his feet rushing into the other teen's back, causing him to stumble. Then he quickly jumped up and put a good amount of space between the two.

Gri had only ever wrestled with dragons before. This taught him how to be quick and agile, but most of the moves he learned could not be applied to humans. Scorch, a male Nightmare, would often trap him between his fore-claws and growl down at him in victory. Gri soon learned how to twist himself out of the trap, making the victory short-lived. But Snotlout would not be trapping him under his claws any time soon, nor would he sit on him, hold him threateningly over a narrow crevice where he wouldn't be able to fly, or shot small blasts of fire at him. So Gri had to come up with a new strategy. He could simply keep dodging Snotlout until he tired him out, but that was boring and Gri might get tired before him. The hand-to-hand combat thing wasn't really a strong-suit either. So Gri decided to trick Snotlout. Like he often did in dragon tag.

First of all, Snotlout needed to be disarmed. When Gri did this, he usually found a way to soak his opponents so that they can't breath fire. This time, he needed to get rid of the hammer. Gri ran up to Snotlout and let him swing his stone weapon. Just before it hit, he ducked to the side and let it slide past. Then he grabbed Snotlout's already off-balance arm and ripped the hammer away. He chucked it as hard as he could and -because they were so close to the edge- managed to throw it through the base of the metal netting overhead. The hammer fell outside the ring with a clatter.

Step two was trickery. Snotlout was still much stronger than Gri. But he had wrestled with dragons and had learned how to take down a bigger opponent. Gri ran past Snotlout to the other side of the arena. When Snotlout chased him, Gri ran past him again. Six times Gri ran the length of the arena, Snotlout chasing after him, effectively tiring his cousin out. Gri was tired as well, but his endurance was much better than that of Snotlout's. Gri stood next to some barrels at the right side of the arena when Snotlot charged him one last time. Just as he was about to reach him, Gri scrambled up onto the barrels and from there jumped and clung to the metal netting above. He quickly pulled his legs so that Snotlout couldn't pull him down just as the other teen skidded to a halt. The black-haired Viking had no time to react when Gri leaped head first towards the ground, tucked and rolled, and came up behind him. With one, swift movement, Gri swept his leg beneath Snotlout's and knocked him to the floor. Then he pounced just as a dragon did, and pulled out his hidden knife. He held it in reverse position in his left hand, pointed st Snotlout's throat, while his remaining arm and legs held down the Viking's limbs.

Gri waited a full six seconds glaring at Snotlout before letting him up. The glare was unintentional; he had always been taught to growl and intimidate your enemies, even when you have won. But Gri didn't care much. He had won. And Snotlout was put in his place.

The rest of the teens stared in awe. They had never expected Gri to win. It was true, he didn't look like much. He relied mostly on agility and speed. Being the smallest at the nest forced him to learn these things. The only dragons he could beat with brute strength was the Terrible Terrors. Because of this, Gri was actually better at taking down bigger opponents than ones his size or smaller. Some Terrors used his own strategies against him.

Greenleaf put his knife back into the hidden compartment of his boot and nodded at Snotlout who was breathing heavily as he stood. "Good fight," Gri said.

Snotlout didn't think so. "You cheated!" he complained.

Gri was confused. Were there rules when you fight? To dragons, rules were meaningless, especially when opposed with possible death. Sure, this wasn't a real fight but shouldn't you train like it was one? "How did I cheat?" Gri asked.

"You didn't cheat," Astrid answered with a smirk, "Snotlout is just a sore loser."

"Sore? Did I hurt you?" Gri asked the grumbling Viking.

"No, it's an expression for when you don't like losing," Fishlegs explained.

"You couldn't take me in a fair fight!" Snotlout shouted, his pride severely wounded.

"That was a fair fight," Astrid sighed.

"Yeah, it was so awesome!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"You totally beat the crap outta Snotlout!" Ruffnut agreed, "One moment you're there, then you're there, then you have a knife to his throat!"

"Awesome!" Tuffnut said again, "And then that face at the end! You looked like a dragon about to eat Snotlout!"

"Uhhhh..." Gri wasn't sure what they meant, but he decided to ignore them. He knew a Zippleback who acted much like the twins back at home. They were mostly ignored as well.

"Shut up!" Snotlout grumbled to the twins, who were still shouting how he was totally owned. He stomped from the arena, and the twins followed. Fishlegs twittered and went after them.

Astrid rolled her eyes and started to leave as well. She turned back to Gri and said, "Coming?" Gri nodded and followed her. Behind him, he heard the pained cries of the dragons behind him.

* * *

When night fell over Berk, Gri slipped out almost immediately. He needed to get to Toothless fast, so that he could do what had to be done. At the cove, Gri wasted no time. He quickly explained the situation to Toothless, and then rushed back to Berk. The Night Fury wished him luck as he left.

Once back at the village, Gri avoided the sentries and made it to the dragon arena. Fortunately, it wasn't guarded since no one was stupid enough to let the dragons out at night and there was no way they could get out on their own.

At first no sound came from the pens. But as soon as Gri got close, he could hear the dragons wake at his scent.

_What is this? A two-legger comes near!_

_Nonsense! Not at this time of night!_

_But there is one, I can smell it. But something is off about this one._

_It smells of dragons. More so than it does of its own kind._

Gri took a breath and said as loudly as he dared in Dragonese, "My name is Greenleaf. I was raised with dragons, in a nest ruled by a kind king. I am staying with the humans for now, because my birth parents are here, and I wish to know more of their culture. But I want to help you."

There was silence before the one in the middle-right pen asked, "Why should we trust you?" It was a female voice, and sounded like a Nadder.

"I can speak your language," Gri replied, "And even if you couldn't, what could I do to you? If this was a trick, you'd still be trapped, and if I tried to kill you, you could easily overtake me." That last part wasn't completely true. If Gri took them on one at a time, he might be able to win.

"I see what you mean. What do you ask of us?" the Nadder asked.

"I'll let you out, but you must be quiet. Any sound will alert the village. You can fly away, all together, and be free. And I plead you do not go back to your own nest. I have heard of the wicked queen who rules there. My nest is south-west from here, and only a few hour flight. You would be welcomed there."

"The queen does not let us travel outside her control," the Nadder explained sadly, "We can travel almost freely wherever her mind can touch us, but not past."

"Then hide in the forest. I have a friend who is there, in a hidden cove. He is a Night Fury, and was injured during a raid. I have been tending his tale-fin. Tell him that Gri sent you, and he agreed to let you stay with him."

"Very well. We will do that," the Nadder agreed.

"I don't think so!" another voice spat. It sounded like a Nightmare. "I do not trust this two-legger! If he lets me out, then I will tear him to shreds!"

"I am sorry to hear that," Gri said sincerely, "Because now I can't let you out." The Nightmare roared.

"Does anyone else object?" the Nadder asked.

"I will go along with this," a small, squeaky voice agreed. It was a Terror, male by the sound of it.

"I will as well," a gruff female voice said next -a Gronkle.

"Let's go!"

"No, we shouldn't!"

"But we'll be free!"

"But you want to, so I don't!"

Gri couldn't help but grinning at the Zippleback bickering with itself.

"Silence you two!" the Nadder growled, "If you cannot decide, we will leave you!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Shut it you stupid beasts!" Gri dove behind a barrel as a sentry came over and barked at the noisy dragons. The Nadder shushed the others and soon the guard left. Gri let out his breath and went over to the pens. He let the Nadder out first.

The cage doors made more sound than he would've liked, but that could not be helped. From it, a beautiful blue Nadder emerged, walking as quietly as possible. "Thank-you," she whispered.

Gri only smiled as he went over to the Terror's pen, and let him out. A little yellow and red reptile shot out from the little flap on the door, and flew a couple laps around the arena. He came to rest on Gri's shoulder and nuzzled him thankfully.

Greenleaf made his way to the last pen on the left, and slowly opened it. An orange Gronkle buzzed out, tongue out and tail wagging. She looked the most excited to be free.

Just then, the Nightmare decided to cause trouble. He started roaring and shouting, trying to get the attention of the village. "Stop!" Gri tried to shout, but he couldn't be heard over the ruckus. "Leave now!" he told the other dragons.

"What about you?" the Nadder asked.

"I'll be-"

"What's going on down there!" a sentry yelled. Lights from torches could be seen making their way towards the arena. The Nadder, seeing the danger, took off and grabbed Gri in her claws. The other two followed her, and they made it out of the arena just as the sentries noticed the open pens.

They flew over the forest until Gri spotted the cove and told the others to land. Toothless looked at them curiously, but said nothing. Gri had told him that he might have dragon visitors. The Night Fury came over and looked between the three new dragons. "Greetings," he said formerly.

"Night Fury." The Nadder bowed, as did the other two. "I almost did not believe the human child that he had made friends with you."

Toothless snorted. "Yes, quite strange. But Gri is more dragon than he is human. Tell me, what are your names?"

"I am Bluestorm, head of my section," the Nadder replied.

"I am Buzzwing, the fastest Gronckle of my section," the Gronckle said next.

"And I am Squeaky, loudest of all the Terrors!" the Terror announced proudly.

"I can tell," Toothless told him. "As you know, I am Night Fury. You may stay here as long as you like, as long as you are not a bother and don't take my fish!"

"And I'm Greenleaf, and I have to get back before I'm missed!" Gri ran from the cove, calling behind him, "I'll be back tomorrow, if I can!" He managed to make it back to the house and slip into his bed without being caught or missed. It actually wasn't that hard, considering how everyone awake was at the arena, trying to figure out how the dragons escaped. But one could never be too careful.

As Gri drifted off to sleep, he heard the faint shouts of Stoick, demanding to know what happened. And he smiled knowing that he had saved three dragons from that horrible place.

* * *

***In case you're wondering, Gri/Hiccup is 17. So yes, he would be a little bit taller than Snotlout by now.**

***I accidentally wrote Hiccup the first time. I thought you guys should know this. Not sure why. I think it's partly because I miss Hiccup. Yes, it is still Hiccup, but I miss his name. I honestly can't wait until I can use it instead of Gri. You may ask why I didn't just use Hiccup from the beginning, and my answer is it wouldn't make sense. Cloudjumper had no idea that Gri/Hiccup's name was when taken, and would obviously give him a different name.**

**So that's that. I just had to make a chapter with Gri/Hiccup kicking Snotlout's butt. If you think he defeated him too easily, then oh well. I personally think that years of climbing among rocks and trees and wrestling with dragons would make Gri very good in a fight against bigger enemies.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the long wait but this is a big chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 16

The next morning, Stoick was in a fury. As far as anyone could tell, it seemed like the doors to the dragon pens had magically opened and let out three of the beasts. Gri had a tough time hiding his smirk all day. He mostly hung with the teens.

To get away from the seething chief who was yelling every three seconds, they raced each other up the cliffs. Gri won almost every time, since he was the best climber. This made Snotlout really mad. He got back at him when they went swimming later.

Gri was an amazing swimmer, but he had never had races in the water before. And his kind of swimming was more of a diving beneath the water, twirling underwater, and holding his breath under water. If they were seeing who could dive the deepest, Gri would win. But they were racing, which meant whoever had the strongest arms won. Meaning Snotlout. He was quite smug after that.

Later, they talked Ruffnut and Tuffnut out of pulling a prank. Astrid wisely told them that the chief was already wound up very tightly, and anything else destructive or hindering could blow his top off. And he might actually kill them this time. Gri had a hard time deciding whether Astrid was being serious with that last statement or not.

The entire day, Gri was really only half-present. The other half of his brain was off forming a plan in his mind, a plan that would bring him one step further to bringing peace between humans and dragons. And now that he had the help of three new dragons, he just might be able to pull it off.

* * *

Gri was extra careful sneaking out that night. Stoick had ordered more sentries to parole, in case more dragons tried to escape. It was also extra hard since he had a larger load than usual. He was bringing extra fish.

The dragons were sleeping when Gri came to the cove, but they quickly woke at his scent. Bluestorm, Buzzwing, and Squeaky were all very surprised when Gri brought them fish. Toothless smirked that he got the most, however.

While they ate and Gri tore the last bandage from Toothless' tail, he told them his plan. "Before I can free you, I need to get inside the nest," he explained.

The dragons were thoughtful for a long while. Bluestorm, seeming to be the smartest of the lot, said, "It might work. it would help if we had the help of Cough and Spit."

"Who?" Gri asked.

"The Zippleback trapped with us. The head that breaths gas is Cough, because he more of coughs out his gas, and the other is Spit because he literally spits out sparks," Bluestorm explained.

"Oh."

"Anyway, it would help a lot if they were with us because they are part of the West Section. I'm head of the High Section, and Buzzwing and Squeaky are both part of the East Section. Both of those areas are good vantage points, but the West section is better. The Low Section is best, but none of us are from there, and it is very difficult to be in another section without arousing suspicion," Bluestorm explained.

"What section is Toothless from?" Gri asked.

The others snickered while Toothless growled. "You know that is not my name, he just calls me that!" he grumbled to them, "And, to answer your question, I am part of no section. As I am a Night Fury, I have no loyalty elsewhere."

"Doesn't the queen know you haven't been back to the nest in a while?" Gri asked.

"No. I am still in the parts where her minds touches, so she does not mind. I doubt she even knows I'm gone."

"So you could go anywhere and not look suspicious?" Gri asked.

"For the most part. But you could not be with me, or else you would be found."

"He could ride with me," Bluestorm offered, "He'd be the hardest to spot in the High Section."

"No!" Toothless said suddenly, causing the others to look at him. "I mean, he should ride with me at first, because I can get him away fastest if need be. I'll leave him with you once he is in a safe spot."

Bluestorm was silent for a moment before giving an equivalent to a dragon smile and said, "Sure thing, Too -I mean Night Fury."

Toothless sighed. "Oh, just go on and call me that. I don't care much anymore. But you mustn't let the rest of the dragons hear. It will seem suspicious."

"Right, right, all about suspicion," Squeaky, well, squeaked.

"We should still get Cough and Spit," Buzzwing said.

"But they argue too much. They'll give us away," Bluestorm argued.

"Uhhh, hello!" Squeaky squeaked again, "I am tiny, in case you haven't noticed! I can scout the West Section for us, if, uhhh, _Toothless _*snicker* will scout the Low Section. And Buzzwing can just get my section."

"You won't get caught?" Toothless asked.

"I was the sneakiest Terror back when I was a hatchling!" Squeaky boasted.

"That was your sister," Buzzwing corrected.

"How would you know?"

"We played those games together," Buzzing reminded him.

"Oh yeah. You were the hardest Gronkle to catch, but that's not saying much," Squeaky replied. Buzzing slapped him with her wing.

"So are we in agreement?" Gri asked, hoping to diffuse the possible fight ahead.

"Yes," Toothless warbled.

"Yes," Bluestorm agreed.

"Fine," Buzzwing said, "At least Squeaky will be somewhere else!" Squeaky glared at her and harrumphed.

Gri left the other dragons to their own devices and went to talk to Toothless privately. "Your tail is pretty much healed," he told him, "It will be a little sore, but not for long."

"Thank you. You have helped me more than I can return," Toothless said sincerely.

Gri smiled and said, "Aww, don't get all mushy on me! You big scaly cat!"

Toothless growled. "I'd be careful. I can still fry you where you stand," he warned.

"Noted," Gri said with a nod. He sat down next to the black dragon and leaned against him. "Think it'll work?" he asked.

"Sure it will. We're doing nothing more than looking for weaknesses. The real question is if it'll help," Toothless replied.

"Yeah. I hope we can free the dragons. And end the war."

"That would be nice," Toothless agreed.

They sat in silence for a while until Gri knew he better get home. "I'll be back tomorrow," he promised, "You guys be ready."

"We will be," Toothless promised.

Gri turned to go, but stopped and turned back around. "I just have one question," he said quickly. Toothless looked up at him. "The others keep making fun of the name I gave you, but -no offense to Squeaky- his doesn't seem very flattering either." Toothless stared at him for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Hey!" Gri shouted, "It's not funny! I just want to know why!"

"You know, for living with dragons all your life, you still don't understand some basic things about our culture. Why were you named Greenleaf?" Toothless asked.

"Because of my eyes," Gri answered.

"Exactly. And your friend, Brightscales. Why was she named that?"

"Her scales are brighter than any other dragon's."

"Exactly. Buzzwing is named so because she is fast, for a Gronkle at least. Bluestorm is named so probably because of her scales. And Squeaky is named as such because his voice is like an annoying squeaky toy."

"But not all dragons are named after their personality or appearance or abilities," Gri replied.

"True, but you named me 'Toothless.' Had you named me some generic name that meant nothing, it wouldn't matter. But you named me _Toothless. _Yes, my teeth are retractable, but I am not toothless. So it is funny."

Gri thought about it for a moment before saying, "I now get why most parents wait usually a month before naming their hatchlings." Then he turned and left.

* * *

Gri came back the next night ready. He brought no fish, because they were going to leave right away. The dragons where ready, and twittering anxiously. "Ready?" Gri whispered, despite the need for it. Everyone nodded. Gri took a deep breath and said, "Let's do this." He climbed atop Toothless' back and they took to the sky. Gri kept low and flat, keeping his head down. He wore dark clothes to blend in, but if anyone looked closely, they'd notice the unusual lump on the Night Fury's back.

The flight was fairly short, just under and hour. Gri looked up slightly when they approached the nest, and took in the island. Though he couldn't see all of it, it didn't seem very big. Off to the left he could barely make out a small forest, if it could even be called that. The main dominating factor was the massive volcano-like mountain standing tall on the black, sandy beach. Toothless flew to the top and landed just before the hole leading in. Gri slid down and grabbed at some rocks to keep from tumbling down the side. He waited until the dragons flew down before climbing the short distance to the top and peering down. Bluestorm was just beneath him, standing on some rocks, and keeping watch for other dragons. Gri carefully lowered himself over the edge and dropped like a cat behind the Nadder. Then he used her as cover as she walked over to a well hidden bunching of rocks.

"There is a good view from here," she whispered, "I'll be back once I scout the High Section." She scampered off, leaving Gri to hide on his own.

The rocks were a good place to hide. Gri could see the entire nest, but remain completely hidden. On his level, he saw the entire High Section, which mostly had Nadders, Rumblehorns, and Timberjacks. When Bluestorm flew in, she was greeted well and he could just make out their questions on where she had been, what happened to her, how did she escape. She made up an elaborate story of getting captured, facing weeks of torture, but using her higher intelligence to escape along with two of her trapped inmates. The story made Gri smile. At their very core, Nadder's still had loved getting all the attention.

Beneath the High Section, Gri saw Squeaky sneak his way into the West Section. This section had mostly Mystery Class dragons. It had multiple Zipplebacks, but also several Snaptrappers and Changwings. Gri even thought he saw a Sweet Death. The larger dragons actually made it easier for Sqeaky to scurry about, since nobody was looking down. He soon disappeared into the tunnels of the West Section, surprisingly undetected.

While Squeaky went incognito, Buzzwing went off to her respective section. She was greeted by a small group of other Gronkles, along with a few Hotburples, their close cousins. Buzzwing began chatting away, and Gri became worried she forgot about what she was supposed to do. But after a while, her friends wandered off, and she buzzed away as well. Gri became concerned again when she was approached by four Terrors who looked a lot like Squeaky. He assumed they were his siblings, and wanted to know where he was. Whatever Buzzwing said to them, they seemed to be satisfied and left.

Just before were the orange smog that hid the rest of the mountain began, the Low Section sat. Most of the dragons there were large and angry-looking, and they glared at everyone they saw. It was mostly made up of Nightmares, Whispering Deaths, and Hobblegrunts all of whom were a dark shade of red, betraying their foul moods. Every now and then, Gri spotted a beaten down looking Terror. He never thought the tiny dragons could look so scary. But despite the obvious malice that came from the Low Section, Toothless slithered in, undetected, and began his work.

Gri sat in his hiding spot, watching all this unfold, and waiting for the return of the raid that was positive to come. While he waited, he observed the South and North Section. He had been assured that both were unimportant, and they would have no need to scout it. But despiet that, they seemed to be the most friendly sections of all. Both had a large mix of dragons, from all different species, and Gri suspected that a few of the odd-looking ones had been cross-bred, a rare sight; not only did most dragons see it dishonorable to mix species, but to do so was also very dangerous and most eggs died before they hatched. Most of these rarities were in the South Section. The North Section looked like it was one massive party of colors, all smashed together, creating a strange picture of all kinds of dragons in all kinds of colors, and in all kinds of shape. Gri had never seen such neon colors in dragons before. It was a sight to behold.

Gri watched and waited for nearly an hour before the raid came in. He watched as every single dragon dropped their catch into the orange pit, surely to be eaten by the tyrant queen. The last dragon to come in was a green Nadder. It was small, or at least still young, and was obviously hurt. It could barely keep itself flapping, and it had no offering for the queen. Gri watched in pity as it tried to fly to the High Section without being noticed, but obviously failing. A buzz echoed about the nest, and Gri felt a tingling in the back of his mind, a calling to serve or die. The Nadder, too weak to fight it, was forced to flap pitifully over the pit. Gri shook his head to rid himself of the buzz, and then it happened. A massive jaw lunged up and snapped the Nadder whole, not even giving it a chance to cry out. It retreated back down into the depths in an instant, but Gri had seen enough. He now knew exactly what they were up against.

Gri was about to turn to look for Bluestorm, when he heard whispering. "I swear I smell something!" It was a male voice, and sounded a lot like a Rumblehorn

"You're imagining things," a female voice responded, this time definitely a Timberjack.

"No, I smell something too," another male voice spoke, a Nadder.

Gri kept himself from sighing in frustration. Of course a Rumblehorn and a Nadder would be able to smell him! They were Tracker class dragons after all. He just hoped that they would think it nothing and move on.

"It's weird," the Rumblehorn continued, "I smell two-leggers, but it is faint."

"Maybe it is just Bluestorn," the Nadder suggested, "She _was_ trapped by them for a long while. It wouldn't be surprising if she carried their scent with her."

"Yeah, that makes sense. She did smell funny earlier. But why is it over here?"

"Maybe she flew in here, and it rubbed off. She may have left her scent here on the way in for a mate," the Nadder replied.

"If she did, then that was just rude," the Timberjack complained, "I left my scent here last week." Gri suddenly didn't want to touch anything. Not only was it gross, he didn't want the scent of a Timberjack trying to attract a mate on him.

The Nadder chuckled and said, "Well if she did, I think I'll go and speak with her. I'm sure she won't turn me down!"

"You flatter yourself," the Rumblehorn scorned, "Everyone knows that Sharpclaw is after her."

"But she won't pick him," the Timberjack refuted, "She's had her eyes on Seaskin for a while. She has a thing for green scales."

"I have green scales!" the Nadder whined.

"Maybe sick-green," the Rumblehorn joked.

"It's more...spoiled green, to put it lightly," the Timberjack agreed.

The Nadder harrumphed. "Can't you just let me dream? Her scales are beautiful." Gri had to admit that that was true. But they were still nothing compared to Brightscales'.

The three dragons continued to gossip about Bluestorm. Gri was getting bored. He also had to use the bathroom. And he was exhausted. He wished they would just leave. Eventually, Bluestorm hopped over and asked them what they were doing in such a secluded spot. This was followed by the male Nadder confessing his love for her, and his two friends snickering in the background. Bluestorm shot him down by explaining that she had never even left her scent for a mate. Fortunately, the Nadder was so broken by this, and his friends were so amused, that they didn't wonder what the strange smell could be if it wasn't Bluestorm. And, finally, they left and Gri could slip from his hiding spot.

"Did they speak of me?" Bluestorm groaned.

"Yeah. They smelled me and thought you had left your scent, because you had been trapped by my kind for so long so you smelled like them," Gri explained.

"And I suppose Turak thought that meant he could ask me as his mate," she growled, "Oh well, we should get you out of here." Gri hid behind her once again as she wandered over to the side of the mountain, trying to look natural and nonchalant. At the side, Gri climbed up atop her back and then balanced on her neck while she lifted her head up and deposited him on the edge. He gripped the rocks of the mountain and climbed over, once again holding tight to make sure he didn't slide down the side. Now he just had to wait for Toothless.

After thirty seconds, Gri's hands and feet got numb from the cold. After another minute, they started to ache. And now he _really_ had to use the bathroom. He wished Bluestorm could've just taken him back. But now that the other dragons knew she was free from the Vikings, she would not be able to slip away very easily.

Another couple minutes passed, but they felt longer to Gri. He was shivering now, and his hands hurt really bad. Inside the nest, it as warm, hot even, and he could sit comfortably in his hiding spot. But here, he was out of luck.

A total of six more minutes passed. And then Gri heard some muttering. It was soft and high pitched, similar to Squeaky, but sounding older and a bit more worn out. Despite the high pitch of the voice, it growled with every word, and generally didn't seem very happy. Moments later, Gri spotted a Terrible Terror sitting atop the mountain several feet away. It was blue in color, rare for a Terror but not unheard of. It was long and lanky, like a snake, and appeared to be severely underfed. Most of the dragons didn't look well-fed either, but this creature was bony, and Gri could see its ribs. The Terror was obviously old, and the ends of its wings were tattered and worn. It was hard to tell in the moonlight, but Gri thought he saw more than a few scratches and bruises that littered his body. The thing would've looked pitiful if it weren't for the foul things Gri heard it say:

"Stupid two-leggers. What are they called? _Humans. _Awful things. But worse it the queen. So cruel. I remember. Yes, I remember when it was not so. But then the queen became wicked, the stupid-" The next string of words to flow from this one Terror's mouth would've made his mother scrub his wings with sand, and make him gulp eel water.

Gri tried to remain hidden, but he could not hold out forever. The Terror suddenly stopped in his ranting and sniffed the air. He growled, and slowly turned around, peering directly at Gri. "What have we here? Little human come to spy on our nest?" it taunted.

"Yes, but only to free you from the evil queen," Gri replied truthfully.

If the Terror was surprised he could speak Dragonese, he didn't show it. "And I'm supposed to believe you?" he asked.

"I have help from other dragons. If you don't believe that, then ask yourself how I got up here."

The Terror regarded him for a moment before responding, "True, true. But I don't like humans. Then again, I don't like dragons much either."

"Why not?" A stupid question considering the circumstance, but Gri couldn't help it.

The Terror looked at him with his beady eyes before saying, "I suppose it shouldn't hurt to share, since you will be dead soon anyway. And besides, I cannot speak of my woes to any dragon, but a human will do just fine. I suppose you've scouted the nest already?"

"Kind of."

"So I'm assuming you saw the Low Section, the lowest point before the queen's breath hides the rest of the mountain. That is where I am from. A rough place. The fumes that the queen breaths are toxic, even to us dragons. It creates a sense of anger and despair, and the inhabitants of the Low Section breath it the most. That is why it is so downtrodden, and horrid. But the queen was not always so. I am very old, centuries old in fact. Through sheer luck I have lived this long. I remember the days when the queen was not so vile and wicked. She certainly was not the best ruler, but not nearly as horrible as now. The air she breathed out was not toxic like it is now, only a little discomforting. When I was small, my sire's sire told me of a time when the queen was not cruel at all, and her breath was sweet and healed the wounds of her subjects. But my sire's sire was already old when he told this tale; the queen had already long since become bitter.

"But that is not the point. My point is that I have lived in the Low Section for nearly three centuries. When I was a hatchling, it was a place of honor. Now, it is dreaded and hated. Only the large, brutal dragons like it there. Terrors are not naturally such. What few of my kind that live there are pushed and scorned, and we do not often make it. That is why I am such a rarity. Because I am so old, a Terror, and live in the Low Section. You know, blue Terrors used to be a common color. More common than even green. But we all lived in the Low Section, and as the queen's breath became more and more toxic, we all died out. And our fellow dragons in our section were no help. That is why I despise dragons. And I despise humans for the same reasons."

Gri wasn't sure what the point of this story was. He had a feeling that this old Terror just wanted to tell it, but had no one to tell it to. At the very least for him, it had stalled quite nicely. But now his fingers felt like ice. He couldn't give up now, however. Toothless could be here any minute. So he stalled himself.

"Not all dragons are bad, you know. I grew up in a nest not far from here. A kindly king rules it, and protects us all."

"That explains your odd scent, and that fact you can speak. But you are still a human. Humans deserve to die."

"I have no right to judge if that is true or not," Gri replied, "But I want to help your nest. The reason I came here tonight is to find a way to defeat the queen, with as few deaths as possible."

"You are naive," the Terror concluded, "It amuses me. The queen can't be stopped."

"My nest liberated one near us several years back. And the nest was much larger than this," Gri tried to persuade.

"Perhaps this is true, perhaps this is not. Either way, I must now bring you forth as an offering to the queen," the Terror replied without emotion.

"Why? The queen will never know. And the worst that can happen is that I fail and get eaten anyway. But, if I succeed, then you'll be free."

The Terror regarded him and said, "You are a smart one. I'll give you that. And I sense you are not lying. Perhaps you do have the best interests of dragons at heart. But, as it is, I care not for dragons any longer."

Gri looked at him sadly as he said, "There's not even one dragon that you care for?"

The Terror let out a slow breath. "I suppose there is one. An egg, not yet hatched. It is my hatchling's, three generations. The rest of the eggs got smashed, and the sire's were killed. My other hatchling's generations were also killed. By dragon law, the egg falls to me, but I am too old to care for a hatchling. I suppose keeping you alive would be useful, if you were to promise to care for this egg, and be sure that it is not killed."

"It would be my honor," Gri replied with a smile.

The Terror looked at him, and nodded. "You are not lying. Perhaps not all humans are vile. I will bring you the last of my kin, and trust that it will be taken care of." He flew off, and Gri could only hope that he wasn't about to alert the whole nest of his presence.

Not thirty seconds later, Toothless flew out and landed soundlessly beside him. "Let us go!" he urged.

"Wait! I have a promise to keep!"

"What do you mean?" Toothless asked. Just then, the old Terror returned, an egg clutched in its claws.

"So you came with Night Fury?" he said in amusement, "Now that's a sight even my old eyes have never seen. Here, the last of my kin. Perhaps, if you do succeed in your quest, I will see it again."

He turned to go and Gri called out, "Have a little faith. 'Perhaps' you might be surprised." The old Terror nodded and left without a word, leaving the egg in Gri's hands.

* * *

"Soooo...what was that all about?" Toothless asked on the way back. Gri explained what happened, and his promise to watch over the Terror's kin for him. "You are lucky he did not reveal you," Toothless commented when he finished. "You were foolish to do such a thing."

"I didn't have much of a choice. It was either trust him that he won't give me to the queen, or most definitely be given to the queen."

"You do realize that you must guard his kin with your life. Dragon promises are very binding."

"Yes, I know that. And I intend to keep my promise," Gri replied.

They landed in the cove, and Gri got down, egg in hand. "Where shall I keep it?" Gri asked.

"Not here. I will not care for it for you."

Gri glared at Toothless and said stubbornly, "I'll just have to hide it in my room at the village. And make sure it stays hidden when it hatches."

"Good luck," Toothless teased. Gri glared at him again and ran home.

* * *

**Phew! Big chapter! I hope it wasn't dry. You all probably thought that Gri would be discovered at the nest, but I honestly don't know why every plan must go wrong in some way in books. Can't it ever go off without a hitch? Besides, the old Terror did pop up. He was unexpected, even to me. Didn't know he'd be joining the story until now.**


End file.
